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College football has been in the news as of late as conferences are mulling the decision to cancel their season. For the first time since I’ve been alive, it’s looking more, and more likely, we won’t have college football on Saturdays. That doesn’t mean we won’t have football.
Multiple reports have hinted at the NFL seizing this opportunity to move games to Saturday afternoon and in the primetime slots. Some have gone as far as to say that it’s a “foregone conclusion.”
The NFL is watching what unfolds with college with interest. They remain highly intrigued by the Saturday television real estate with the potential absence of college.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 10, 2020
NFL GM tells me he believes it’s a forgone conclusion the NFL will play regularly on Saturdays if no CFB.
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) August 10, 2020
Over the weekend, ProFootballTalk reported that games would likely be moved to Saturday, even if those games weren’t broadcasted:
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the NFL likely will move games from Sundays to Saturday, if college football doesn’t proceed this season. It’s unclear whether the games would be broadcast, streamed, or distributed on a pay-per-view basis, but the league likely would backfill the vacant Saturday windows with NFL content.
You’d think the NFL would take advantage of this opportunity to broadcast its product even more. By putting more games on TV, the league could make up for lost revenue due to not having fans in the stands. College sports generated over $804 million during its fiscal year of 2019, and it’s safe to assume the majority of that came from college football.
As we await a decision from college football, it’s looking more and more likely that we’ll have professional football on Saturdays.