After much backlash and a dramatic decline in ratings, the College Football Playoff has mostly abandoned New Year’s Eve.
The College Football Playoff semifinals will no longer take place on New Year’s Eve unless the date falls on a Friday or Saturday, it was announced Thursday. As New Year’s Eve takes place on a Saturday this year, this season’s games will be unaffected by the change.
Next season’s games will also be unaffected, as the Rose and Sugar Bowls will host the semifinals on New Year’s Day.
The semifinals will be moved up from New Year’s Eve to Saturday, December 29 in 2018, December 28 in 2019, December 28 again in 2025 and December 27 in 2026. In all other years, the games will remain on their previously scheduled date — including New Year’s Eve this year, 2021 (Friday) and 2022 (Saturday).
The College Football Playoff was widely criticized for its New Year’s Eve scheduling, and the critics were vindicated after ratings for the semifinals dropped dramatically last season. While there were other reasons the ratings fell, the New Year’s Eve date was widely viewed as the primary culprit.
(Thu. news from collegefootballplayoff.com)
