COLUMBUS, Ohio – Parents of Ohio State’s football players are complaining that it’s not fair they must pay to travel to bowl games if they want to watch their sons, especially considering the revenue they generate for the NCAA and the university.

Ohio State’s student-assistant fund reimburses players’ parents $800 to help defray the costs associated with attending games during the season, but they don’t believe it’s nearly enough, and sent a letter to the Big Ten asking for help, the Columbus Dispatch reports.

As the team heads to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans to face off against Alabama Jan. 1, the players’ parents said they’ve been confronted with the enormous costs for plane flights and lodging, and many can’t afford to attend.

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“They’re making hand-over-fist dollars on our guys, the guys take all the risk for the entertainment dollars and they ignore the families altogether,” Connie, Bennett, mother of defensive tackle Michael Bennett, told the Dispatch.

“I think about 70 percent of our parents, as it stands, won’t be able to attend the game,” said Annie Apple, mother of cornerback Eli Apple.

Apple, who lives in New Jersey, told the news site the family has spent about $15,000 to attend every home game this season, as well as a handful of away games.

Annie and Tim Apple, vice presidents of the Ohio State football parents association, recently sent a letter to the Big Ten with letters from other parents pleading for financial help to attend this year’s post-season games.

“After all the hard work raising them, shuttling them around the country to camps and away games, it hurts to not be able to celebrate the fruits of not only the boys’ efforts, but the family’s efforts as a whole,” read a letter from an unidentified parent, according to the Dispatch.

“We families have entrusted you with our boys and expect you to look out for their best interests. I pray you will consider rewarding their efforts with support to ensure their family is there to support them during this amazing experience in their lives.”

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Other parents told the news site their sons work hard for their scholarships, and being on the football team is like a job, so helping their parents attend games should be part of the deal.

“With the millions that are being made to watch these athletes play, with jersey sales, etc., the parents should be able to attend the games,” Dawn Elliott, mother of running back Ezekiel Elliott, said.

Yet despite the expensive cost of attending postseason games, some parents are making it a priority to be there no matter what, but told the Dispatch that it comes with sacrifices.

“No one has an extra 10 grand in disposable income just sitting around collecting dust,” Annie Apple said. “I told my (13-year-old) daughter, ‘You’re getting all your Christmas gifts at the dollar store.’ I’m joking about that, but we are going to have to cut expenses.

“If we are family, we have to be treated as such. Ohio State is representing the Big Ten on the biggest stage, and you cannot value these players’ families and make sure they have a place to stay and not have it be a huge burden? I don’t understand that.”

And it’s not just Ohio State parents who are complaining.

Florida State receiver Rashad Greene’s mother, Cassandra Green, has attended every one of her son’s college games, but told the Associated Press that the postseason takes a financial toll.

“With family support, I’m going,” Cassandra said. “It’s tough. You’ve got to sit down and make some logical decisions. You have to put some things that you really don’t need and some things that you don’t have to do, you have to put all that in perspective and say I’m going to the game.

“Some things I said I wanted for Christmas or some things that people were going to buy me for Christmas, I was like, ‘Don’t give me gifts. Contribute to me going to California.’ But, it’s worth it.”

According to the AP:

The money coming into the conferences and schools involved in the new college playoff system is staggering: $50 million per big-five conference, $6 million for each school in the semifinals, $2 million per team for expenses.

NCAA rules do not currently allow players to be compensated — even though ESPN is reportedly paying $500 million this year to televise the CFP games.

The winner of the Ohio State – Alabama game moves on to the national championship in Arlington, Texas, on Jan. 12, but the response from the Big Ten makes it clear they won’t be helping parents attend the game this year, but perhaps in the future.

Big Ten spokesman Scott Chipman said the student assistant fund is currently the only means of providing financial assistance to parents to defray travel expenses.

“Long-term, we have committed to examining benefits provided to student-athletes as part of the ‘autonomy’ governance structure,” Chipman told the Dispatch, “and that will include an examination of assistance, where appropriate, to parents and legal guardians of student-athletes.”