Late Pac-12 starts likely here to stay
Pac-12 After Dark brings drama, even in the daylight.
Those late West Coast games are here to stay, however, despite criticism that they are a challenge for the league, its teams and the fans.
“We’ve got eight of what we call ‘special date’ games, Thursday or Friday night games, every year. Those have been very successful for ESPN or Fox just from a purely ratings perspective,” Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said.
Some have long argued the late starts in the Pac-12 mean that East Coast viewers don’t see key games, putting the league’s teams and players at a disadvantage when it comes to poll and award voting.
Coaches are concerned about the late starts because they can wreak havoc with travel schedules and take a toll on athletes.
But the league has a 12-year, $3 billion contract with ESPN and Fox. Good West Coast teams are going to get those late national time slots.
“They’ve been big showcases. Our broadcast partners like them because they get good ratings. We’ve got plenty of challenges in this conference with time zone, and being willing to be a little bit flexible and willing to play those has been good for our league,” Scott said.
Some ticket-holders aren’t fans of late start times, especially when there’s travel involved to stadiums. Take Eugene: It’s about a two-hour drive from Portland and more on game day, then there are TV timeouts.
Alumni on the East Coast sometimes must stay up until the wee hours to watch their teams.
Last season, 24 games started at 7 p.m. local time or later. This year’s number hasn’t been determined because TV slots often are determined only a couple of weeks before games.
Utah faced Washington two weeks ago with an 8 p.m. Mountain start time, so Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham was grateful for the hour of Saturday’s game at Washington State.
“The 3 p.m. (PDT) kick will be nice,” he said. “Getting to play a game in daylight is going to be awesome.” Bowl gets new name: After four name changes since the game’s inception in 2002, the Bay Area’s bowl game was renamed the Redbox Bowl in a multiyear deal with the movie and video-game rental company.
The 17th installment of the game will be played Dec. 31 at Levi’s Stadium. It still will match teams from the Pac-12 and the Big Ten.
The game had been called the Foster Farms Bowl for the past four years. It began as the San Francisco Bowl, then was renamed the Emerald Bowl, the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, the Fight Hunger Bowl and, in 2014, the Foster Farms Bowl.
— Tom FitzGerald Briefly: Demoted Clemson QB Kelly Bryant missed his second straight practice since freshman Trevor Lawrence was picked to start for the No. 3 Tigers on Saturday against Syracuse . ... San Diego State junior running back Juwan Washington has a broken collarbone and is expected to be out for six weeks.