NFL Not Happy With CFP

The NFL was able to take advantage of a loophole in their broadcast agreement this season.  They're not allowed to have any games on Friday night or Saturday between the second week in September and the second week in December.  However, since Labor Day is early this year, the NFL season actually starts on the first weekend of September, when they don't have a restriction.  That's how they were able to schedule the Eagles' Week 1 game in Brazil for Friday night.

That's also why the NFL doesn't play on Saturdays until mid-December, which is after college football season ends.  For the past few years, they've had a Saturday tripleheader on NFL Network where all three matchups are TBA until a few weeks before the game.  They normally designate five as potential Saturday games, then choose three that have playoff implications.  And they're all on NFL Network as part of their eight-game package.

This season, however, there may not be the Saturday tripleheader.  Or, if there is one, it may be a week later.  And the reason why?  The expanded College Football Playoff.  Three of the four CFP first-round games are on Dec. 21, which is when the NFL Saturday tripleheader normally is.  That date is already set.  And the league is not happy about it.

When the College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams, it was obvious that it would have to schedule around the NFL in January.  The NFL doesn't schedule a Monday night game in Week 18, so the College Football Playoff was able to schedule the National Championship Game for that Monday night the day after the NFL season ended.  It was actually the perfect scenario for ESPN, too, since they could just insert the CFP National Championship on that off week between the final regular season Monday night game and the Monday night Wild Card Game.

With the expanded playoff starting this season, though, the CFP schedule changes completely.  The New Year's Six are now the quarterfinals, which means the National Championship Game can no longer be on that Monday night between the regular season and playoffs.  Instead, it'll be the week after the Wild Card Games on Martin Luther King Day.  (Coincidentally, next season's CFP National Championship Game falls on the same day as the Presidential Inauguration--Jan. 20, 2025.)

Since college football will be played much deeper into January than ever before, they had to schedule around the NFL Playoffs.  The New Year's Day bowl games are now quarterfinals, with the semifinals the following week.  However, that coincides with Wild Card Weekend, when the NFL is playing on Saturday, Sunday AND Monday.  As a result, the CFP semifinals will be on Thursday and Friday night, leading into the Championship Game on the following Monday (Martin Luther King Day).

In January, the NFL Playoffs were always going to take precedence, so the CFP scheduled around them.  In December, though, with the NFL still in the regular season, no such concession was made.  The four first-round games need to be played early enough so that there's enough time for the winners to prepare for their New Year's Eve/Day quarterfinal (I'm just going to assume that the team that plays the Friday first-round game is the one that advances to the New Year's Eve quarterfinal).  So, that Saturday after the conference championship games really was the only realistic option.

Having a College Football Playoff first-round tripleheader on that Saturday makes complete sense, actually.  Fans are already used to spending their Saturdays watching college football, and it's basically just adding an extra college football Saturday.  That's the day people are used to watching and attending college football games, and, with the NFL's domination of Thursday, Sunday and Monday, there's really no other day of the week available.

Of course, that Saturday is also the first one available for the NFL that doesn't violate the broadcast regulations.  And, since that's normally a free Saturday between the end of college football's regular season and the bowls, they've taken full advantage and scheduled that NFL Network tripleheader.  Moving forward, though, it's no longer a "free" Saturday.  In fact, it'll become one of the more important Saturdays for college football.  So, what will the NFL do?  Especially since this won't be just a 2024 problem.

Since the games are on different networks, there's no stopping the NFL from continuing to schedule the Saturday tripleheader opposite the first-round of the CFP.  I can't see anybody being happy with that option, however.  The College Football Playoff went out its way to schedule around the NFL in January, so they'd be justifiably angry if the NFL doesn't return the favor in December.  Likewise, ESPN likely wouldn't be happy since it would impact their ratings for the first-round games.  And not to mention the fans who want to watch both the NFL and the CFP.

Another option would be for the NFL to move its Saturday tripleheader back a week.  Week 16 doesn't conflict with the College Football Playoff at all, so the NFL could schedule three Saturday games no problem.  Although, that wouldn't always be the perfect solution.  Week 16 is Christmas Week, and the NFL doesn't like to tinker with the schedule during Christmas Week so that players and fans don't have to adjust their holiday plans.  Which means moving the Saturday tripleheader to Week 16 only works if Christmas doesn't fall on the weekend (not to mention the Christmas games that are on other networks as part of the TV contract).

They could also do away with the NFL Network Saturday tripleheader, but I'm not sure how that would work with the TV contract.  They save eight games for themselves to broadcast exclusively on NFL Network.  The Saturday tripleheader obviously accounts for three of those games.  They also do most of the International Series games from Europe on Sunday mornings (the Jaguars' London game is on ESPN+, but they have the other four), with a special Saturday night or holiday game rounding out the schedule.  How would they make up for those three Saturday games if they cede Week 15 to the College Football Playoff, though?

There's a solution here that will work for everybody.  I'm just not sure what it is.  Because I can see where the NFL's coming from and why they're upset that the College Football Playoff interferes with their Saturday tripleheader.  But, at the same time, it's reasonable for the College Football Playoff to expect to be featured on that Saturday without having to go head-to-head against the NFL.  Especially since they purposely ceded January to the NFL playoffs, so having the NFL return the favor in December isn't that crazy an ask.

Frankly, what surprised me most is that it took this long for the NFL to say something.  The College Football Playoff schedule has been set for a while, so they've known about this issue that whole time.  I am curious to see how they figure it out, though.  For this season and beyond.