ESPN TV Schedule: Release Show Further Exemplifies How Game Is Mirroring NFL

Today ESPN used their big, daily college football show to release their programming schedule to start the 2012 college football season. The Wolrdwide leader gave out the early season games for some big name programs they will be covering, as well as the full season schedule for some of their smaller properties. As the ESPN Media Zone denotes, 68 of their 450 games are now released for you to salivate over. 

ESPN was not the only group to get in on the fun. NBC, about an hour before ESPN, got into the mix by releasing their full schedule of content for the 2012 season. 

Get Excited People! We now know when all, or some, or a couple, or one or two of the games start!

While college football does not host an hour long, self-indulgent event like the NFL, yet, the fact that this even framed as something fans should get excited about shows the NFL-type path that college football is taking. This is the slow birthing of a 24/7/365 focus, much like the NFL, that college football is attempting to inspire. It is brought on by the media, by the school presidents, the athletic directors and of course the dollars.

Football is a sport that is tailor-made for television. Commercial breaks for networks to sell ads for. Short burst of plays that keep fans tied to the televisions instead of extended play that makes folks get up and walk away. Football is drama. The sport is the best produced avenue for media companies to sell ad-rights to.

Now, those minds are attempting to find ways to carry that drama further. For the NFL that's the draft, that's the combine, that's the schedule release that people sat down and watched this past April. For college football that's the signing day special, the spring game and the quick schedule release play on College Football Live.

That's not to say it is a bad or a good thing; rather just the more plays for television that college football makes, the more it is clearly following in the footsteps of it's professional daddy. People love college football, they watch mailboxes for the preview magazines and if there is a way for a network to play off that adoration of the game it is a chance to capitalize on the sport.

In the instance of college football it is largely network driven. Everyone already knows who they are playing and what dates the games are going to take place. Shoot, if you're a season ticket holder then you've already ordered your tickets. This is merely about times and platforms.

College football is growing quickly from a media standpoint and highlighting game times and channels as a big deal is a testament to that fact. Folks are going to get excited about seeing their team in prime-time and their team being on television, that is what drives the bus at this point.