Breakdown of Alabama's $7.3 million in CFP expenses

Winning a national championship isn’t cheap.

And while the reward certainly outweighed the cost for the 2015 Alabama squad, it is fascinating to see just how much money is required to even be present at the College Football Playoff.

The Crimson Tide spent more than $7.3 million on travel and game expenses for the two contests which ultimately led to its fourth national title under the direction of Nick Saban.

Alabama beat writer Alex Byington wrote an artice with an in-depth breakdown of how and why that money was spent.

Here’s a look at some of the totals he produced for both the championship game against Clemson and the semifinals matchup with Michigan State:

The numbers add up quickly.

And if that seems expensive, it doesn’t even take into account what is believed to be more than $2 million that Alabama had to pay out to staff members as bonuses for actually winning the games while they were there.

Still, it’s what might be referred to as the “cost of doing business” if you want to compete at the highest level of college sports.