bedlam was the most viewed game osu played in this year, by far. it's a nationally relevant game that people watch. that's true for them most years. and moving forward sure they'll have some good ones, if deion is still at colorado and they are ranked, that will get views. so will utah, if they stay good. but a big part of that is the newness of those teams. the other new teams are just plain bad right now, so that wont move the needle much. nobody is clamoring for cinci, houston, ucf or really even byu at the time.
I agree, that it's a net negative for the state, and CFB as a whole. Certainly when you lose 90% of the time it's not a net negative to skip a nearly guaranteed L every year. But it is the one game most osu fans most look forward to whether they admit it or not. and as i have said many times, rivalries are the best aspect of this sport and osu lost the only one they have.