2016 College Football Playoff Semifinal Date Will Not Change Despite Request
After the success of the 2014 College Football Playoff tournament, the management committee has decided to maintain the same schedule for 2015.
According to ESPN.com's Heather Dinich, the 2015 CFP semifinals will be held on New Year's Eve despite ESPN's request to move them to Jan. 2, 2016. Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott was among the organizers who feel as though New Year's Eve is the best fit.
"We reviewed it and rejected it," Scott said. "We like the concept that we've developed for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Going forward we think that's the right model for college football."
While the CFP committee is keen on the current setup, not everyone agrees. Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports believes ESPN's proposal made far more sense:
"CFP so hell bent on to their new "tradition", won't move semis to preferable, wide open Saturday Jan. 2. It remains a mismanaged sport.
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) February 5, 2015"
The overriding assumption is that viewership would likely be larger on Jan. 2 since many potential viewers have other plans on New Year's Eve. At the same time, staging the semifinals on New Year's Eve on a yearly basis can become something of a signature for the CFP.
Regardless of the opposition, both the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl will be contested on Dec. 31, 2015.
Even if that doesn't present an ideal scenario for ESPN and part of the viewing audience, the enormity of the event ensures that the games will reel in huge ratings regardless.
Ultimately, the CFP committee seems to feel as though the branding advantages of New Year's Eve semifinal games outweighs what may only be a negligible loss in viewership.
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