On Saturday, November 6th, 1869, Rutgers and Princeton faced off to play in the first-ever college football game. This moment in history would begin one of the greatest traditions in American culture—college football Saturdays. For nearly 155 years, this fall tradition has taken place, and during the journey, it has captivated millions of people. College football has created thousands of iconic moments and memories for fans and players. Millions of fans gather around their TV three hours before the first game is played on Saturday to watch College Gameday. Then, at the season's climax, after countless heartbreaks and comeback games, the sport's biggest game of the year approaches.
The college football national championship arrives. Whether or not your team is in it, you still want to sit down and enjoy your last Saturday of college football. Except one thing has changed. The iconic game branded by the sixth day of the week will not be holding its grand finale that day. Instead, you can catch kick off at 7:30 P.M. on a Monday.
People have wondered for many years why the college football championship isn't played on a Saturday. Ultimately, it's been determined that the reason is that college football does not want to compete with the NFL. Yes, I'm telling you that corporate greed has once again affected your convenience. But fear not! I am here to provide context and maybe some solutions. As you probably know, the NFL plays most of its football games every Sunday and primetime games on Monday and Thursday, leaving Saturday for college football so they can shine on their own. This really helps college football viewership, as the NFL tends to crush college football in ratings. During the week of the college football national championship game, the NFL averaged over 21 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Meanwhile, the college football national championship had 25 million viewers. Though the college game had more views, it's important to note that this was the season's biggest game, while for the NFL, it was just week 18 of the regular season.
So you may think it's generous that the NFL lets college football keep their Saturday games throughout the regular season. I will once again crush your dreams when I tell you that is not what's going on. The reason why the NFL doesn't play games on Saturday until the college football postseason is because of the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. The Act essentially forbade the NFL from broadcasting on Friday and Saturday nights from the second Friday in September till the second Friday of December. This Act has allowed college football to explode over the past sixty-plus years. Even today, the world of college football is still growing. According to the New York Times, total viewership for college football is up 12% this year and 28% over the last five years. It's no wonder why, as the game has become so much more exciting over the years. Whether it's the traditions, the play style, or all the characters that college football has to offer. Last year, we saw how one coach alone could change an entire program and draw millions of eyes to a school in one year. The coach I'm referring to is, of course, Deion Sanders.
Though the viewer discrepancy is still massive, I think it's vital that we continue to allow college football to flourish. The first step to doing this is allowing the National Championship game to be set on its rightful day of Saturday. The NFL should not only be willing to give up that one Saturday but should be happy to. The NFL and college football should be best friends with mutual interests. Over 99% of NFL players played college football. Both leagues have massive overlap in their fanbase, and helping one league get more viewers will, in turn, help the other. However, if the NFL refuses to play nice and continues playing that Saturday, we will step in. We, the fans, cannot continue under any circumstances the cruel and unusual punishment that is watching college football on a Monday night. We must unite this nation with the common goal of updating the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act. This issue will receive bipartisan support and could be the first step in uniting our country.
Now I know what you're thinking. Did I save college football while also bringing the country together? Yes, yes, I did. With all the hatred and negative political discussions going on right now, we need brightness this fall. By bringing college football back to its rightful Saturday night slot, we are growing the sport, helping the sleep schedules of millions, and possibly saving America. So I want you all to do this. Call your local representative today and let them know how you feel about the national championship game being on Monday. Let them hear your frustration with the current system in place, and together, we will all be watching America's greatest tradition on the greatest day of the week.
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