SEC not interested in moving Sugar Bowl to help College Football Playoff
Ratings for the College Football Playoff may have declined on New Year's Eve, but the SEC does not want its Sugar Bowl moved to accommodate any potential scheduling changes.
By
Jon Solomon
•
3 min read
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona -- In the aftermath of a major viewership decline for the College Football Playoff semifinal games, which were held this season on New Year's Eve, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey indicated Sunday that his conference has no interest moving the Sugar Bowl -- contracted as an SEC-Big 12 game -- off Jan. 1.
“We’ve got an important and meaningful relationship with the Sugar Bowl over time that the Big 12 and SEC worked to establish a contract and an agreement that that’s when that game would be played,” Sankey said. “That is important to us. I think it’s clearly important to our fans. It was important to the Oklahoma State and Big 12 fans who were in New Orleans. We’re going to protect that tradition.”
The television ratings for the Dec. 31 semifinal games dropped about 36 percent compared to the 2014 season games on Jan. 1. According to Broadcasting & Cable, ESPN is currently negotiating more than $20 million in credits to advertisers to compensate for the broadcast’s lower-than-expected ratings.
Both semifinal games weren’t competitive in the second half so that certainly played a factor in lower viewership. But the larger issue is many people work on New Year’s Eve and celebrate the new year at night without watching football.
Asked whether playoff games are more important overall than the Sugar Bowl, Sankey replied, “That’s a value judgment. There’s an opportunity on New Year’s Eve that was meaningful -- still is meaningful -- so you can make one’s evaluation and judgment about importance. I think both sets of games are important. There are six games that are part of this format now. Each of those is important in their own way. The playoffs are important as well and they do attract meaningful interest, even though there was a decline in TV ratings this year.”
ESPN is paying approximately $80 million per year to the SEC and Big 12 for the Sugar Bowl, contracted to be played on Jan. 1 every year. The SEC and Big 12 created a new game -- the so-called Champions Bowl -- and then sold it to the Sugar. The SEC's creation of this "new" bowl became leverage in playoff discussions as the leagues wanted the game to receive similar exposure and money as the Rose Bowl, which historically plays on Jan. 1.
Sankey noted that the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 has clearly been important to the Big Ten and Pac-12. Before the playoff era started, the Sugar had been played on Jan. 1 just twice in the previous 11 years. The Sugar was played on Jan. 1 a total of 34 times in its first 47 years. The game was on Dec. 31 from 1972-75 and in 1995.
“There will be plenty of time to look at ratings and the second evolution of the College Football Playoff,” Sankey said. “There will be plenty of time for that discussion and learning.”
This year, Dec. 31 falls on a Saturday so ratings for the early semifinal could increase since it’s not a workday. The conflict for fans with the late game will remain in place since it's still New Year's Eve. The semifinals rotate back to the Rose and Sugar on Jan. 1, 2017. The semifinals are scheduled for Dec. 31 in eight of the 12 years of ESPN's contract with the CFP.
“Every year is a little different in terms of when New Year’s Eve is,” ACC commissioner John Swofford said. “The next couple of years, I wouldn’t anticipate (ratings) being an issue at all. A lot of other things come into play. The games ended up not being close games in the second half. I don’t think you’re going to see any rush to change the schedule that has been set for the 12-year period.”
Asked if he understands the frustration many fans feel about being inconvenienced to watch two of college football's biggest games, Swofford replied, “I think that can be true to some degree any time you play. Certainly, that’s not what we try to do. But also with technology, people that really want to can watch one way or another about anywhere they are.”
Fans who work on New Year's Eve may disagree. Fans with spouses who want them celebrating New Year's Eve might disagree as well.
"I understand the conversation," Sankey said.
In the college football bowl system, though, understanding and acting are two very different conversations.
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