College Football Playoff wises up, ends arrogant claim to New Year's Eve

It took longer than it should have, but the long national nightmare is finally over

Don't mess with New Year's Eve. The last day of the year remains undefeated. Newsflash: As long as alcohol exists, New Year's Eve is never going to lose.

Many years from now, Americans will look back with bewilderment at the start of the College Football Playoff era. "Wait," someone will say in 2056, "people actually thought college football could change New Year's Eve in America?"

"We really do think we're going to change the paradigm of New Year's Eve," CFP executive director Bill Hancock said in 2014 as the spokesman who had to constantly make this statement. Let the record be noted to people in 2056 who read this story on their glasses: We all laughed and rolled our eyes every time Hancock tried to sell this.

The bold arrogance by university presidents and conference commissioners to play CFP semifinal games on New Year's Eve officially ended Thursday. The fans spoke by tuning out Alabama-Michigan State and Clemson-Oklahoma compared to a year earlier. ESPN spoke by reminding folks it actually needs to make money to keep paying everyone -- except the players -- billions of dollars.

TV ratings for the CFP semifinals last season dropped 40 percent; the games were played on Dec. 31 after the inaugural semifinals were on Jan. 1.

Hancock said as recently as six months ago that the CFP was "locked in" to New Year's Eve. There was this never-ending push to create a "new tradition" on New Year's Eve. Translation: The Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl want -- and will still get -- Jan. 1 even when they don't host the semifinals.

Shockingly, Americans told college football they're just fine with New Year's Eve as they've had it their entire lives, but thanks for asking.

They also reminded college football that many of them actually work on New Year's Eve, especially on weekdays, so it's hard to see the semifinals. (Yes, last season's semifinals became blowouts and impacted ratings, but the date was the major issue.)

Everybody could see this dilemma coming except the CFP. To its credit, and thanks to ESPN, the CFP has evolved sooner rather than later. Clearly, lessons were learned from the Bowl Championship Series era when the public's dissatisfaction of the BCS dragged on far too long. It's best to rip the Band-Aid off immediately.

"We tried to do something special with New Year's Eve, when it fell on a weekday," Hancock said in a statement Thursday. "But after studying this to see if it worked, we think we can do better. These adjustments will allow more people to experience the games they enjoy so much. For these four years, our previous call is reversed."

Over the final 10 years of the CFP's 12-year contract, the semifinals will be played only on Saturdays and holidays. Four future semifinal dates got moved. The 2018 semifinals will be on Saturday, Dec. 29; the 2019 semis will be on Saturday, Dec. 28; the 2024 semis will be on Saturday, Dec. 28; and the 2025 semis will be on Saturday, Dec. 27.

There is one date the semifinals remain on a weekday New Year's Eve -- Friday, Dec. 31, 2021. That's the federally observed New Year's holiday, so people will be off work. In years when the Rose and Sugar host the semifinals, the semis will still be on Jan. 1.

In a perfect world, the semifinals should always be on Jan. 1. New Year's Day is one of college football's best brands, and it has been abused by the game's leaders for far too long. There's still going to be a New Year's Day letdown when semifinal games are played a couple days beforehand. But there was no way the Rose or Sugar would leave Jan. 1 -- there is a Rose Bowl parade to think about, after all -- so beggars can't be choosers.

This is a win for fans. For ESPN, it's a saving grace. While signaling changes were coming earlier this month at SEC Media Days, Hancock described the steep ratings declines as a "first-world" problem. Try telling that to ESPN.

SportsBusiness Journal reported last winter that advertisers were meeting with ESPN to get "make-good advertising units" because of the low ratings. Advertisers with deep investments in the CFP were publicly saying the New Year's Eve semifinals were a major mistake.

ESPN didn't spend $7.3 billion to lose money. And no matter how popular college football is, it's not that popular for enough casual fans to change their New Year's Eve plans.

The fans win. ESPN wins. College football wins.

Everybody can now resume counting their money with a smile on their face.