Money Talks: College football TV scheduling is failing us


By
 in ,

This past weekend, we had the opportunity to watch another exciting set of college football matchups with numerous upsets and thrilling endings such as Texas A&M-Texas Tech University, Clemson University-Wake Forest University and more. The slate of electric football games included USC’s matchup against the previously undefeated Oregon State in which the Trojans avoided the upset, winning 17-14 thanks to their relentless defense and the offense’s late-game heroics. 

However, a lot of people did not get the opportunity or were unwilling to watch this game and its dramatic ending for two reasons. The first is that the game started at 6:30 p.m., which works for us here on the West Coast, but for Trojan fans on the East Coast, the 9:30 p.m. start time makes watching the game a late-night commitment. Nevertheless, late games are a normal thing. They happen commonly in other sports such as baseball and basketball. But when it comes to two undefeated teams in the conference with a recent history with one another, it was surprising to see it be scheduled for such an inconvenient slot.

The second factor is even more alarming. The game was televised on the Pac-12 Network, which is not available on a number of TV providers such as YouTube TV, DirectTV and more. Unfortunately, this results in people having to follow the game through other methods such as ESPN’s Gamecast feature, illegal streams or the nostalgic option of radio broadcasts. 

College football fans’ distress about airing the game on the Pac-12 Network was well-voiced on social media.

“Just realized that No. 7 USC plays a really good, really fun Oregon State team… on Pac-12 Network. So I can’t watch it. Nor can most of the country,” tweeted Shehan Jeyarajah, a CBS Sports writer. 

“When the big game of the night is on the Pac-12 Networks, I like to gather my entire family around a gigantic radio in the living room like FDR is delivering a fireside chat.” said Rodger Sherman, a sports writer for The Ringer. 

It begs the question, who even decides what games will be aired on what network in the college football world? Is it the conference? 

Well, the answer actually comes down to the media channels themselves, such as Fox and ESPN. They negotiate which games they will air on their respective networks. So, it’s unfair to place the entire blame on the Pac-12 Conference for the fact that the USC-Oregon State game got played at such a late time and inaccessible channel. Still, on their end, they need to make the Pac-12 Network available to more providers so that fans all over the nation can easily watch their favorite teams. 

But the larger issue at hand remains that the conferences should have more say in what games get to be shown prominently. Exposure to Pac-12 football is already limited, and not putting some of your top teams like USC in primetime spots hurts them even more. Although Pac-12 is known for its “Pac-12 After Dark” games, its viewership is not the best because of these famed late start times. 

Choices like these over the years are what made USC and UCLA decide to go to the Big Ten, as there will be greater media coverage with better time slots, which means more national exposure and recruiting attention. Additionally, with the stronger TV deals through the Big Ten with broadcasters such as FOX, CBS and NBC, both schools are looking to make around $80 million to $100 million per year compared to now where they make around $20 million to $21 million per year. 

Although USC and UCLA are already leaving, it is crucial for the Pac-12 to start thinking about getting more power in what games should be placed front and center every week to sustain the future of their conference.

Pratik Thakur is a senior writing about the business in the world of college sports. His column “Money Talks” runs every other Wednesday.