Spring College Football Season Could be Logistical Nightmare
College football the last 48 hours has felt like the indecision my parents, sisters and I have when picking a restaurant to eat at. Two of us don't care, one has a passionate choice that the other sibling dislikes and dad wants ribs.
The suggestion of a spring season isn't totally out of the picture, the Mid-American Conference announced they will try it. Maybe the Big Ten will too.
It’s reported that Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren is in favor of a spring football season. While that may not be a bad idea, the Big Ten and other conferences are going to have to think of (at least) these challenges if they're going to consider a spring season.
Questions on Scholarships/Eligibility
Not so much for those on current rosters, but those who are going to be on rosters. If a high school senior graduates early to join Ohio State for the spring, or a JUCO student graduates in December and joins a team, are they eligible for the season? Scholarships will have to be juggled too. That high school senior or JUCO transfer may not have a scholarship for the spring season if they're eligible.
Plus, if a season is canceled and Power Five schools lose on average more than $60 million in revenue this fall, how are schools going to honor those scholarships?
NFL Prospects
If some players are willing to opt out of a bowl game in an ordinary year so they don't get hurt before the NFL Draft, then why would any star player want to play a spring season? This also effects those athletes still needing to show they can play in the NFL. A year ago, first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Joe Burrow, was that athlete.
Length of Season
What would a spring season even look like? The NCAA and every school across the country preaches valuing student-athlete health and safety over anything else ... could they really justify playing two full football seasons in less than one calendar year? Are they willing to extend the CoVID-19 effects of the 2020 season into a 2021 season as well?
Attendance Conflicts
If football and men’s basketball (or another spring/fall sport) have a home game scheduled for the same day, some fans will be torn on which to attend. Especially if they have season tickets to both.
TV’s Priority
What will be TV’s priority, football or basketball? March is a basketball extravaganza, but with college football’s restart in the spring, what will TV prioritize? What are the odds that the biggest basketball rivalries are under shadowed for football’s best match-ups? Imagine some professional sporting events mixed in here as well.
Weather Concerns
There would have to be talk about playing in March, April and May. Imagine Ohio State at Wisconsin or Ohio State at Michigan State in January or February. Flu season is another reason why March would have to be a starting point, COVID-19 could re-surge during January and February. Traveling is already difficult enough during the pandemic, but traveling as a large group is even harder. There is no guarantee of a vaccine, no matter what the rumors are.
Decreased Olympic Sports Attention
The fan attention and main TV viewership will go to football and basketball. It’s unfortunate to admit, but sports like volleyball, field hockey, soccer, baseball, softball etc. won’t garner as much attention. Luckily diehard fans of those sports will have ESPN+. But without college football in the fall, how many of those programs are going to get cut?
There’s been no official word on cancelling Division I fall championships, but let’s say they’re hypothetically moved to spring, imagine the chaotic collision of college sporting events.
So Many Sports, Not Enough Workers
Staffing will be a problem for schools (especially smaller DI schools) on days where multiple events happen. It will be a nightmare for facilities that are trying to handle a home football, baseball and/or volleyball event at the same time.
Athletic communication staffs, especially those understaffed, will lose hours of sleep. Between press releases, game previews/recaps, media guides, press conferences, social media posts, media availability, content creation and more, these staffs will be working nonstop juggling multiple things for multiple sports at once.
A decision on the fall has to be made first, but these challenges (and more) should be considered if football is postponed.
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