Like a good real estate investment, the best thing about College GameDay is its location. The show’s on-air talent is beloved, but what makes GameDay special is that ESPN takes it to a different raucous campus every week. The fun in GameDay isn’t just that Lee Corso puts on a mascot head and makes a pick. It’s that he does it in front of thousands of screaming undergraduates, who are either cheering him or booing.
Why ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ is in New York City, a town without major college football games
It’s still about showcasing fandom, albeit differently than normal.
Richard Johnson, SB Nation
The scene’s different this week.
ESPN’s taking the show to Times Square in New York, which is nowhere near any major college football games.
The closest FBS game to Saturday’s GameDay set is about 200 miles southeast, where Navy’s hosting Cincinnati in Annapolis.
Isn’t GameDay always supposed to go to the scene of the biggest game?
This show tries at least one oddball location per year, often during slower weekends for huge games, which Week 4 certainly is. Those are often FCS schools, like James Madison or North Dakota State or Harvard. Times Square’s a new one, but GameDay does not just camp outside large SEC stadiums every week.
Another factor: New York’s as good a college sports town as any other big city. I don’t mean it’s a great town for attending college football games, but the two things are different. New York’s a great college football town because people from all over the country live there. When they move, they don’t just cast off their teams. SB Nation’s New York office is full of such people: fans of Florida, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Alabama Oregon, LSU, Washington, Syracuse, UConn, Georgia, Northwestern, and more.
There are CFB fans all over the city, all with different allegiances. That’s central to ESPN’s explanation:
“New York City is a melting pot of college football fans and the heartbeat of America,” said ESPN vice president of production Lee Fitting. “Thousands of alumni gather in the city each fall Saturday to root on their school and we are bringing College GameDay to New York for them! We want every alumni base and college football fan near and far to join us in Times Square to provide the celebratory, festive atmosphere that is synonymous with the show.”
How thriving is the CFB fandom scene in NYC?
Far more than you might think. SB Nation’s Richard Johnson, a Florida alum now in the city, reports:
No one thinks of New York City as a college football hotspot, and there aren’t even any big games within hundreds of miles on that day.
New York City is a desert of pro sports.
But that need for oasis has created a unique college fan landscape. Every Saturday, tribes center at watering holes throughout the metropolis. You can find one for virtually every sizable fan base.
The city doesn’t have any FBS teams. The Big Ten considers Rutgers, 40 miles away in Piscataway, N.J., to be a New York media market team. Syracuse is about 250 miles to the north. Army’s about 90 minutes away in West Point. Buffalo’s in the complete opposite corner of the state and is also Buffalo, so it’s not NYC’s team either.
Richard spent a game at a New York USF bar. That place is popping:
“This place, prior to us joining, was a UConn bar,” Andrew Jones, a former chair of the alumni club, said. “UConn’s still here, but doesn’t really draw much for football. We’ve had games against them where we kinda just absorb them. For college basketball, you can’t get in this place; there’s a line out the door for it. So we’re the main school here.”
Jones had season tickets when he lived in Tampa. His wife, Melissa, wears a green dress, gold eyeshadow, and USF-themed shoes. If the Bulls can become the Group of 5 entrant in the New Year’s Six, the couple will travel to Atlanta for a likely date in the Peach Bowl. But Melissa’s settling on doing the journey by train. She’s pregnant, and under doctor’s orders, won’t be able to fly after Thanksgiving. So they might train. Anything to stay connected to the squad.
“I want to say if they can get past those slow starts, it’s an undefeated team. And that is largely because our schedule is weak. Our schedule is really weak,” Jones said. “I think that us having this senior team that has all the pieces, with the defense that’s actually doing what they’re supposed to do, I think undefeated is something that is definitely in reach.”
The Bulls do need to stop dilly-dallying with teams like the Owls, and even if they do, they’ll still have to sweat out the Playoff committee.
Nicole Graham, the vice chair of the chapter, assured me I would like the free shot that accompanies a touchdown, even if she says she’s too picky to enjoy it. After starting in a created position as a watch party coordinator, Graham rose because she was doing too many things like writing grants and connecting with the main alumni association in Tampa.
“It’s kind of a joke because I was the quiet one in the corner,” Graham said. “Didn’t really talk to anyone my first few games. And then, I don’t know, something just sparked in me, and I wanted to be more a part of this. I felt the energy. I felt different directions that you could grow in.”
There’s also another theory floating around the internet.
ESPN’s putting GameDay in New York to try to leverage local cable providers into carrying the SEC Network and soon-to-launch ACC Network, some argue. Both are ESPN properties. The network’s deal with Altice, a major New York provider, expires at the end of the month, and ESPN’s reportedly pushing some of its college offerings on the distributor.
Isn’t having the show off-campus some kind of affront to its dignity?
No, because GameDay has never been about showcasing one big game in particular. It’s about showcasing the spirit of the sport. College football fans might not take over Times Square like they would’ve Oklahoma State’s campus for the TCU game, but college football is everywhere in America.
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