The Jetsons cartoon was one of my favorites when I was a kid. I don’t know what year in the future I was supposed to be watching but I thought it was cool. I didn’t fly to work in my car today but, if you think about it, much of what was predicted as “futuristic living” has actually come to pass. Well, my dog doesn’t talk to me either, but you get the point. Saturday night may have been a small glimpse into the future of our college football viewing options.
In a rare occurrence; FOX, CBS, ABC and NBC all had a college football game airing during primetime. This is a weekly event on FOX and ABC but much more rare on CBS and NBC. The CBS time slot was their annual primetime SEC game reserved for what they believe to be the biggest game of that year’s conference schedule. This year, Alabama and Texas A&M occupied that slot. That was a decision that was made when it appeared as if Jimbo Fisher might try to rip off Nick Saban’s head and spit down his throat.
The Genesis of the rivalry between teacher and former student was a Birmingham speaking engagement in which Alabama’s head coach alleged that Texas A&M paid millions of dollars for their 2022 signing class. Fisher took that about as well as you would imagine and, in a hastily called press conference the next day, he basically sent his and Saban’s relationship to DEFCON 1. Things calmed a bit between Fisher’s fiery press conference and the actual game. Still, CBS got a 24-20 Alabama win.
While that blood feud played out on CBS, NBC was showing the nation’s most prominent Catholic university playing the nation’s most prominent Mormon university in, of all places, Sin City. The Shamrock Series brought the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to Las Vegas to face off with the BYU Cougars. Though without the same off the field furor as Alabama-Texas A&M, Notre Dame and BYU also played a one possession game.
At the same time as the two previous games were being played, FOX was showing Washington State at USC and ABC had Clemson at Boston College. Those two games weren’t as close as the other two but we can’t bat 1.000, can we?
Four primetime network games, mixed in with the regularly scheduled cable games, might soon be the rule rather than the exception. With ESPN/ABC’s new SEC deal starting in 2024 and the new Big Ten deals for CBS and NBC, the schedule will be packed with meaningful games. As always, you and I are the winner in that transaction.
FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff ratings success has already forced ESPN to step up their noon ET game. How often did ESPN College Gameday make a raucous headgear pick then kick us viewers to a half-empty stadium for a sleepy game featuring a couple of 1-4 teams? No longer, the Worldwide Leader now puts more compelling games in that slot, no longer conceding the battle to FOX.
One would have to think that trend will continue in the primetime window when the Disney properties can finally show primo SEC games there. That will up the pressure on the Big Ten to have more appealing choices for NBC, FOX and CBS. Not to mention the fact that a steady diet of USC and UCLA home games will be forced in those windows simply by reasonable West Coast kickoff times.
Now, I am not pretending we operate under the old rules that said a game must be available over the air to be successful in the ratings. We consume games many different ways, including our phones, just the way George Jetson consumed his college football games. My point is, those networks that no longer have a sister cable sports network arm are more likely to want good games in primetime.
I am also not under any assumption that a college football game must be in primetime to succeed. Just the opposite. The FOX Big Noon window and the CBS 3:30 ET window have been ultra successful in ratings. Sports fans will find the great games in whatever time slot they air. If those games are compelling enough, they’ll plan their entire day around them.
If the future of college football television is anything like this past Saturday night, I’ll feel like Doc Brown from Back to the Future; I’ve seen the future and I like it. The only difference is that I don’t need to fuel my car, that still won’t fly, with a bunch of garbage. Nope, the only thing I stuff with garbage on a college football Saturday is myself.
Ryan Brown is a columnist for Barrett Sports Media, and a co-host of the popular sports audio/video show ‘The Next Round’ formerly known as JOX Roundtable, which previously aired on WJOX in Birmingham. You can find him on Twitter @RyanBrownLive and follow his show @NextRoundLive.
