League’s late games are popular on TV
Pac12 After Dark brings drama, even in the daylight.
But those late West Coast games are here to stay, 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. And also you don’t have the clutter, or the fragmentation of a lot of multiple games going on,” Pac12 commissioner Larry Scott said. “So they work well.”
Some have long argued the late starts in the Pac12 mean that East Coast viewers don’t necessarily see key games, putting the league’s teams and star players at a disadvantage when it comes to poll voting or postseason award consideration.
Coaches have voiced concern about the late starts because they can wreak havoc with travel schedules and take a toll on athletes. For example, road teams that have a 7 p.m. Saturday kickoff might not be back home until early Sunday morning. If the team has to turn around to play another road game the next week, it’s at a disadvantage.
But the reality is that the league has a 12year, $3 billion contract with ESPN and Fox. Good West Coast teams are going to get those late national time slots because there is no other competition for them.
Scott said the league limits teams to playing just one of those games per season. Usually it’s no more than two in every three years.
Saturday’s game in Eugene, which was the “Saturday Night Football” game on ABC, was the most watched ESPN/ABC Pac12 Conference game in nearly four years with a total live audience of 4.26 million viewers, according to ESPN. The audience peaked at nearly 6 million viewers for Stanford’s 3831 overtime victory.
Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre noted that his team is coming off a bye before hosting UCLA this Friday night. He said the league continues to address coaches’ scheduling concerns over late starts.
“We also understand that we are going to have to play some night games at prime time, which honestly if you’re winning games and playing at night, you’re kind of pumped about it. Would you rather play at 2 o’clock in the afternoon? Of course,” he said.