SEC Football: How The Conference’s Stubbornness Will Hurt Them
The SEC football offices are being stubborn in refusing to consider moving the Sugar Bowl to improve ratings.
Mike Slive is somewhere shaking his head is disapproval.
After the College Football Playoff games received abysmal ratings due to being played on New Year’s Eve, the conversation has begun to try to move some of the games around to boost ratings. The SEC, though, has no interest in adjusting the Sugar Bowl and their SEC football bowl schedule to accommodate ESPN and increased ratings. Wrong move Greg Sankey.
Some of us are SEC football fanatics. Others of us are SEC fanatics in general. Others still are obsessed with college football. Yet I would not judge any single person, outside of fans whose teams were playing in the College Football Playoff, for missing those games. They were on New Year’s Eve.
Think about that for a second. We all love waking up on New Year’s Day and binge watching bowl games. The 2014 playoff games were great. You didn’t have to get off the couch after being out for New Year’s the night before and had quality tv beckoning you to watch. But New Year’s Eve? Seriously.
How egotistical can the Power 5 and College Football Playoff Committee be that they think they can break a tradition (going out to celebrate New Year’s) that goes back generations by adding a pair of high profile college football games to the calendar. It ain’t happening.
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Never.
Nope.
Not a chance.
Yet SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey doesn’t get it.
The following is taken from an article available from cbssports.com:
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.” (end quote)
I know it appears lazy to pull that large a section of text but I could not put it any better how much Sankey just doesn’t get it. No one outside the committee cares one bit when the games is played.
I feel like former SEC Commissioner Mike Slive would get it. He understood how to grow SEC football and took the conference to unprecedented heights. Sometimes you have to accommodate TV. Period.
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Whatever day would get the College Football Playoff and Sugar Bowl the highest ratings are the days they should be played. If that means playing the College Football Playoff on January 4th (insert other random date here) and leaving the Sugar Bowl for January 1, great. If not, move the Sugar and get maximum eyes on both. The SEC will almost always be a part of the College Football Playoff and the more eyes that see the SEC as a brand, the better.
Let’s be clear. If the SEC doesn’t take advantage of the ratings opportunity that comes with major bowl games, another conference will gladly be a focal point for their own day and New Year’s Six bowl game.
