Big Ten to feature more Friday football games next season

[doctornick]

Schedules, exposure, contraction: 10 topics with Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti

Petitti sat down with The Athletic to discuss a variety of issues in Minneapolis at the Big Ten media day for men's and women's basketball.

theathletic.com

Lots of stuff here but a nugget that the Big Ten will have 9+ Friday football games on Fox networks starting in 2024. I presume that means FOX or FS1 (as opposed to the BTN). This is separate from the two Black Friday games each season that will be carried on CBS and NBC.

Of note, the article specifically mentions PSU as one of the schools unlikely to host a Friday game due to logistics.

 

[Cowbell Man]

Someone would have to write a big fat check to State College Economic Development for an absurd disbursement exercise for the loss of revenue from a Friday night game.

 

[LandoComando]

Schedules, exposure, contraction: 10 topics with Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti

Petitti sat down with The Athletic to discuss a variety of issues in Minneapolis at the Big Ten media day for men's and women's basketball.

theathletic.com

Lots of stuff here but a nugget that the Big Ten will have 9+ Friday football games on Fox networks starting in 2024. I presume that means FOX or FS1 (as opposed to the BTN). This is separate from the two Black Friday games each season that will be carried on CBS and NBC.

Of note, the article specifically mentions PSU as one of the schools unlikely to host a Friday game due to logistics.

As long as we're not hosting a Friday game I'm all for it. I could see a bunch of Illinois at UCLA type games at 9 on a Friday for example.

 

[megadrone]

If Penn State has a Friday night game (outside of Labor Day weekend), it's become a bizarro world where PSU has somehow swapped places with Rutgers or Indiana. It's too valuable for the TV contracts to not have PSU, OSU, Michigan, USC on Saturdays!

 

[LandoComando]

If Penn State has a Friday night game (outside of Labor Day weekend), it's become a bizarro world where PSU has somehow swapped places with Rutgers or Indiana. It's too valuable for the TV contracts to not have PSU, OSU, Michigan, USC on Saturdays!

Road Friday games could happen IMO if it's on FOX not FS1

 

[PSUSignore]

Interesting that they say OSU, Iowa and PSU won't host on Fridays due to logistical reasons. I get it for PSU due to distance from urban areas and the ability for fans to attend on Fri nights. Iowa might be the same. But what's the logistical limit for OSU which has a campus in proximity to an urban city? I see no reason was given for why UM won't host on Fridays.

 

[PSU_Nut]

Interesting that they say OSU, Iowa and PSU won't host on Fridays due to logistical reasons. I get it for PSU due to distance from urban areas and the ability for fans to attend on Fri nights. Iowa might be the same. But what's the logistical limit for OSU which has a campus in proximity to an urban city? I see no reason was given for why UM won't host on Fridays.

The problem is not fans ability to get to the game it the venue ability to host. Columbus is a pretty big city almost the same size of Pittsburgh. Imagine trying to deal with commuter traffic on a Friday night when you add 100k people trying to get to a game. In addition it takes mobilization of a resources to host an event with over 100k people. One of the reasons Penn State could never host has nothing to do with people getting there. It the fact that you have to bring in police/emt ect from all over the state that simply can not be sacrificed during the week.

 

[cvilleelkscoach]

The problem is not fans ability to get to the game it the venue ability to host. Columbus is a pretty big city almost the same size of Pittsburgh. Imagine trying to deal with commuter traffic on a Friday night when you add 100k people trying to get to a game. In addition it takes mobilization of a resources to host an event with over 100k people. One of the reasons Penn State could never host has nothing to do with people getting there. It the fact that you have to bring in police/emt ect from all over the state that simply can not be sacrificed during the week.

The reason Penn State can't host is the university would need to close either all day or very early in the day on Friday. Too many of the resources and infrastructure to hold that game are used for the school day like parking, police, OPP, CATA, etc.

 

[ivan brunetti]

If Penn State has a Friday night game (outside of Labor Day weekend), it's become a bizarro world where PSU has somehow swapped places with Rutgers or Indiana. It's too valuable for the TV contracts to not have PSU, OSU, Michigan, USC on Saturdays!

The networks would make more money grabbing 6 million viewers with a Friday night game vs no major competition, rather than the same game at noon on Saturday pulling maybe 4 million vs a half dozen P5 games.

 

[PSU_Nut]

The reason Penn State can't host is the university would need to close either all day or very early in the day on Friday. Too many of the resources and infrastructure to hold that game are used for the school day like parking, police, OPP, CATA, etc.

That applies to most schools and they close early all the time to accommodate Friday and Thursday night games.

 

[djm_psu_alum]

As long as we're not hosting a Friday game I'm all for it. I could see a bunch of Illinois at UCLA type games at 9 on a Friday for example.

Doubt you see any UCLA or USC home games on Friday nights at 6pm here (9pm EST). The traffic would be horrendous. Both have played Friday night games but I can't recall in the time I've lived in Pasadena either having a Friday home game.

 

[LandoComando]

Doubt you see any UCLA or USC home games on Friday nights at 6pm here (9pm EST). The traffic would be horrendous. Both have played Friday night games but I can't recall in the time I've lived in Pasadena either having a Friday home game.

That's probably a good point. Washington/Oregon might be more likely. It will be interesting to see how it plays ou.

 

[EPC FAN]

Schedules, exposure, contraction: 10 topics with Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti

Petitti sat down with The Athletic to discuss a variety of issues in Minneapolis at the Big Ten media day for men's and women's basketball.

theathletic.com

Lots of stuff here but a nugget that the Big Ten will have 9+ Friday football games on Fox networks starting in 2024. I presume that means FOX or FS1 (as opposed to the BTN). This is separate from the two Black Friday games each season that will be carried on CBS and NBC.

Of note, the article specifically mentions PSU as one of the schools unlikely to host a Friday game due to logistics.

FRIDAY NIGHT IS FOR HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.

 

[fastlax16]

The problem is not fans ability to get to the game it the venue ability to host. Columbus is a pretty big city almost the same size of Pittsburgh. Imagine trying to deal with commuter traffic on a Friday night when you add 100k people trying to get to a game. In addition it takes mobilization of a resources to host an event with over 100k people.

Do the Steelers not host Thursday night or Monday night games?

 

[LandoComando]

Do the Steelers not host Thursday night or Monday night games?

102k is a lot more than 68k