Despite a long advertising campaign and optimism from network and Playoff executives (whom Spencer Hall refers to as LIARS above), the College Football Playoff on New Year’s Eve was a major flop. Who knew that people have things to do besides football on New Year’s Eve?
The College Football Playoff’s New Year’s Eve problem is not at all hard to solve
Just put us in charge for a day or two. We’ll fix this thing in no time.
The semifinal ratings dropped by more than 36 percent from last year, falling short of the incredible ratings from last year’s Ohio State-Alabama and Florida State-Oregon Playoff games. The Bama-Clemson ratings were down from last year’s Championship as well, though not as badly.
As Ryan Nanni notes above, it would have helped if the games were better, as both Alabama-Michigan State and Oklahoma-Clemson were blowouts. But the biggest problem was that many people either work or party on New Year’s Eve and couldn’t watch the games. Last year’s games were on New Year’s Day, a federal holiday that people celebrate by sitting on their couches.
The obvious solution? Move the Playoff to January 1, but that proposal was blocked long ago by the Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC and Big 12, who want the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl to always be on New Year’s Day. That doesn’t appear to be changing, so the Playoff will fall on New Year’s Eve two out of every three years.
Even given that obstacle, the Playoff could be moved to January 2, but as of now, there are no plans. So don’t be surprised if next year’s ratings are just as bad.
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