There are numerous upsides to the new Pac-12 Network, chief among them the millions of dollars that pour into conference schools, the national exposure Pac-12 teams receive from the likes of ESPN and FOX and, for all diehards except those who subscribe to DirectTV, the ability to see every game on television — if they can stay awake.
The major complaint about the Pac-12 Network, at least so far, is that too many games, especially those involving elite teams, start too late in the day and have become an inconvenience, if not a major hassle, for fans who have to travel any distance to attend them (or even if they don’t have to travel that far).
This was underscored last week when numerous Oregon fans, especially those residing outside Eugene, lodged a complaint over the rash of 7:30 p.m. kickoff times. The Ducks had three consecutive such contests, from Arizona Sept. 22 through last weekend’s wipeout of Washington.
Overall, four of Oregon’s games have started at 7:30 p.m. this season while another began at 3:30 p.m. Oregon fans get something of a “break” this week, when the Ducks will kick off at 6 p.m. The Ducks have played just one traditional day game, against Tennessee Tech Sept. 15, which began at 12:30 p.m.
By contrast, Oregon played just one game under the lights at Autzen Stadium in 2011, and the Ducks still face the prospect of more night-owlish starts, given the school’s high national ranking.
Last week, Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens wrote a letter to Ducks fans explaining how the school lobbied for an earlier start time for its match with Washington. Mullens said that, per the Pac-12’s contract with ESPN, game times are decided by the network, not by the school.
The primary issue for Ducks fans (and for Huskies fans as well), is the travel involved for those driving to Eugene from outside the Portland area. The latest start times means that a majority of games are now ending around 11 p.m.
Washington hasn’t played as many 7:30 p.m. contests as Oregon, but the Huskies have had two such starts (San Diego State and Oregon), two 6 p.m. starts (LSU and Stanford), and have a 7 p.m. game on the docket, Arizona Oct. 20.
Only one of Washington’s games — Portland State Sept. 15 — started in what used to the traditional time for a college football kickoff, 1 p.m. Washington has only one more game scheduled whose time has been announced, which will be played during the day, the Apple Cup Nov. 23 in Pullman — the day after Thanksgiving when few students will be on campus and fewer Seattle fans will be in the mood drive over after the holiday.
Last year, Washington had a pair of 7:30 p.m. starts, for Arizona and Oregon. Only one other game, Stanford, started as late as 5 p.m.
The biggest game on Washington’s home schedule so far, the Sept. 27 win over No. 8 Stanford, drew 55,941, far lower than expected. We can’t help but wonder if the late start didn’t keep many fans from attending, and whether a continued glut of late games will ultimately transform the Pac-12’s football audience into mainly TV watchers, simply for the convenience of not having to beat the milkman home.
The way things are trending, college football is going to have to introduce day/night statistics, common in major league baseball.
The Alabama-Birmingham News asked an appropriate question about the late start times of college football games, which we will repeat here, as it pertains to the Washington Huskies and Washington State Cougars, who have had two 7:30 p.m. starts and only one “day game,” Homecoming vs. Colorado Sept. 22. Comments are encouraged.
[polldaddy poll=6596005]
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="2114459 http://uwfootball.sportspressnw.com/?p=2114459">8 Comments
Not a great thing for UW alums & fans living in the Central and Eastern time zones.
Not a great thing for UW alums & fans living in the Central and Eastern time zones.
Couldn’t agree with you more.
Couldn’t agree with you more.
I think the issue for the Stanford game was more Thursday than 6:00. From a fans standpoint the Thursday game is a pain, but I’m willing to bite the bullet on one every year or two since I know the TV money from it is good. Plus fir the team it is probably good all in all, essentially two semi byes.
Night games in Arizona have always been the norm because of the heat, so real change there. Seems like ESPN will always want a 7:30 game and The PAC 12 are the only ones who can really provide it, if AZ and ASU don’t have a compelling home game some lse as to bit the bullet, seems like it should be spread around like the Thursday games are but lately Oregon has been the only team with National interest so they get the bulk of them. As the rest öf the conference gets more competitive that should start evening out.
I think the issue for the Stanford game was more Thursday than 6:00. From a fans standpoint the Thursday game is a pain, but I’m willing to bite the bullet on one every year or two since I know the TV money from it is good. Plus fir the team it is probably good all in all, essentially two semi byes.
Night games in Arizona have always been the norm because of the heat, so real change there. Seems like ESPN will always want a 7:30 game and The PAC 12 are the only ones who can really provide it, if AZ and ASU don’t have a compelling home game some lse as to bit the bullet, seems like it should be spread around like the Thursday games are but lately Oregon has been the only team with National interest so they get the bulk of them. As the rest öf the conference gets more competitive that should start evening out.
night games are a pain, made even worse by the location of the clink. too often a beautiful saturday afternoon in the PNW turns to rain about 4 pm. oregon is suffering even worse since most of their fans have a 2 hour drive from portland, and a 7 pm night game in eugene means getting back to portland at 2 am by the time you have fought your way to the freeway and crawled back to portland. i see attendance sagging even in the new HS with more and more night games and not knowing until a week or two beforehand what the start time will be.
night games are a pain, made even worse by the location of the clink. too often a beautiful saturday afternoon in the PNW turns to rain about 4 pm. oregon is suffering even worse since most of their fans have a 2 hour drive from portland, and a 7 pm night game in eugene means getting back to portland at 2 am by the time you have fought your way to the freeway and crawled back to portland. i see attendance sagging even in the new HS with more and more night games and not knowing until a week or two beforehand what the start time will be.