College Football Playoff moves semifinal games off New Year’s Eve
By Hunter Cooke
The devastating TV ratings were enough for the CFP committee to move the semifinals of the College Football Playoffs far away from New Year’s Eve.
The semifinals of the College Football Playoff in 2015 were disastrous, to say the least. Both games ended up being uninteresting blowouts, and the timing of the games made for some of the worst TV ratings in bowl history. It’s hard to swing the uninterested viewer on New Year’s Eve, especially when everyone is headed out to be with their friends and family.
Playoff executive director Bill Hancock informed USA Today that the playoff dates will be changed, and they will stop trying to start a tradition on New Year’s Eve.
The change won’t be immediate. This year’s semifinal games will still be played on New Year’s Eve. The first year these changes will take place is in 2018. This year’s games will still appear earlier in the day than last year’s, but that will likely not be enough to bolster ratings.
The CFP suffered a colossal 40 percent drop in viewership in its second year. There are a lot of factors we need to consider here, like maybe the hype for the playoff in general faded after the first year, or maybe the matchups weren’t as interesting. With everything considered, there’s still no way that the ratings should drop 40 percent on uninteresting games.
In last years CFP semis, Oklahoma played a good first half against Clemson before being blown out. Michigan State tried their hardest, but no one was stopping the Alabama juggernaut. Alabama went on to beat Clemson in the national championship.