Ohio State Buckeyes fans might be frustrated about a surplus of noon kickoffs, but their athletic director isn’t blaming Fox.
Last season, complaints from the Ohio State faithful reached a fever pitch as the Buckeyes finished their season with six consecutive noon kickoff games, most of which featured in Fox’s premier Big Noon Kickoff window. This season, Ohio State fans should prepare for more of the same.
For Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork, that’s just the reality of today’s current college football TV landscape.
“Ohio State has carried the Big Noon window for a long time, ever since it was created,” Bjork told The Columbus Dispatch. “That’s a credit to our program, our players, our coaches, the consistency of championship football. We get the way the contracts are written. All we were hoping for is a little more balance and a little flexibility, and that’s not possible given the current makeup of these TV contracts.”
Last week, it was revealed that Ohio State and Fox had pushed to move the Buckeyes’ season opener against Texas from the Big Noon window to a Sunday night primetime game. The Longhorns, not wanting to voluntarily play on a short week and maneuver a more rowdy primetime crowd in Columbus, declined the offer. But Fox’s support didn’t go unnoticed by Bjork, despite the network often catching the ire of his fan base.
“They’re a great partner,” Bjork said of Fox. “They tried. They have the first pick each week. There was no way they were not going to choose the Ohio State-Texas game.”
As much as Buckeyes fans might decry the frequent noon games, it’s hard to argue that the arrangement hasn’t directly benefited the program. Rather than competing with high-profile SEC games later in the day, Ohio State often finds itself as the clear “A” game in the noon window, meaning more exposure for the brand. Of course, Fox’s success creating a marquee matchup for the noon time slot directly contributes to the record-setting media rights revenue the Big Ten will take in this year. Without the advent of Big Noon, it’s difficult to know whether the Big Ten would be out-earning its SEC counterparts.
The sacrifice? The conference’s top programs often play in the noon window. Bjork understands what the fans don’t; you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
But that also didn’t stop the Buckeyes’ athletic director from suggesting some flexibility is in order.
“We think more balance is needed,” he told The Dispatch. “Our fans deserve it. Our atmosphere deserves it.”