BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The SEC and Big 12 have sent Champions Bowl bid packages to 10 cities, according to sources familiar with the process. The proposals include bidding options unique to much of the bowl systems so the conferences can obtain a different view of how much revenue is available.

New Orleans, Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix, Houston, Orlando, San Antonio, Nashville, Tampa and Jacksonville received a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the game. ESPN first reported the cities that got bid packages.

The Champions Bowl plans to match the SEC and Big 12 champions with playoff access four times during the 12-year cycle. When the conference champion reaches the playoff in a year the Champions isn't part of it -- which could happen frequently -- the SEC and Big 12 will choose who to fill the Champions.

Bid proposals are due by Aug. 22. Not every city will necessarily bid for the Champions, which will assume the name of whatever bowl lands it.

Bowl organizations and cities are weighing how to best use their resources. Several industry sources believe New Orleans and Dallas are the favorites to land the Champions.

The biggest difference with the Champion's 18-page RFP is a bid option using an alternative, revenue-sharing model. Until now, bowls with SEC tie-ins have offered a lump-sum guaranteed payout to the conference, such as the Cotton Bowl's $3.75 million to the Big 12 and $3.4 million to the SEC.

The lump-sum option remains for the Champions. But in addition to or instead of the lump sum, the bidding host can also offer a minimum guarantee, a management fee it retains, and a structure to share revenue.

For example, if a bowl clears $15 million and proposes to keep a $5 million management fee, bowls must decide how much more of the remaining $10 million it will offer to share with the conferences. It's not clear which option the SEC and Big 12 prefer from a host's bid -- the lump sum or the alternative model.

The management fee would allow the bowl to make revenue but a controlled amount. Bowls have been stockpiling money into reserves for years. For example, the Sugar Bowl listed its 2009-10 net assets at $34.2 million, and in 2010-11 the Fiesta kept $17.5 million, the Chick-fil-A $13.1 million and the Cotton $10.2 million, according to tax records.

The Champions plans to provide at least 15,000 tickets per conference, which would guarantee at least 5,000 will be sold. That shouldn't be an issue for SEC and Big 12 schools to sell. If anything, they would probably want more.

The SEC and Big 12 will keep the yet-to-be-determined TV money and title sponsorship, except in years when the Champions is part of the playoffs and shared with other leagues. The host bowl of the Champions retains other game revenue, such as ticket sales and local sponsorships. That's a similar model used by the Rose Bowl with the Big Ten and Pac-12.

It's possible the Champions RFP will become a blueprint for how the playoff "access" bowls and national championship sites are selected.

E-mail: jsolomon@bhamnews.com. Follow @jonsol