After a highly successful first run of the college football playoff last year, it appears that everyone was happy with it moving forward. However, once it was realized that the semifinals would land on New Year’s Eve next year, ESPN tried to get college football to move the games to Saturday, January 2 where more fans would watch.
It was announced on Thursday that the playoff’s management committee has rejected the idea and the games will remain on Thursday, December 31 where ratings will likely drop. It was a very important decision from the college football folks not to give in to what ESPN wanted to do. They want New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day to be the biggest two days on the calendar.
At some point, there will be a call for change especially if the playoff ends up moving from four teams to eight teams but for the time being, college football seems very happy with sticking with Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 for their six biggest games outside of the playoff championship game. The ratings this coming year may have a big impact though on what happens moving forward. If ratings tank, things are going to be changed quite quickly probably.
