Bill Hancock says New Year's Eve date could change for College Football Playoff

HOOVER, Ala. – The College Football Playoff’s attempt to “change the paradigm of New Year’s Eve” may be finished after only one year.

“We will be exploring whether there is a better way for the semifinals,” Bill Hancock, the Playoff’s executive director, said Wednesday, adding: “We will be thinking about whether New Year’s Eve is the right way to go.”

Hancock’s comments were a significant shift. Last season, TV ratings for the semifinals dropped 40% from the year before, but Hancock said repeatedly in recent months the Playoff remained committed to playing on New Year’s Eve, as they’re scheduled to do in seven of the next 10 years.

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Any change wouldn’t happen before the 2018 season. The 2016 semifinals, which will be played in the Fiesta and Peach bowls, are set for New Year’s Eve – but New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday.  For the 2017 season, the semifinals rotate back to the Rose and Sugar bowls, which have guaranteed New Year’s Day slots.

“The next two years, it’s not a discussion point,” Hancock said. “We have time. … It’s a matter of (having) tremendous viewership, but can there be more people who have a chance to watch the games. We want to find the best day when the most people can watch the games.”

Hancock also called it a “absolutely a first-world problem, which I define as a good problem to have. … Millions of people watched the semifinals on New Year’s Eve – just not as many millions as watched the year before.”

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Last March, the CFP announced a scheduling tweak for the 2016 semifinals. The Fiesta and Peach bowl semifinals will be played at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, Dec. 31. Each kickoff would be an hour earlier than last season. Hancock said then the goal was to allow more fans to watch “and still enjoy their New Year’s Eve festivities,” but insisted there were no plans to move the semifinals from Dec. 31.

During its annual meetings in April, the CFP’s management committee, comprised of the 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, was presented in-depth data on the ratings from TV partner ESPN, which is paying $7.3 billion over 12 years to televise the games. Hancock said then the commissioners were “paying attention.”

Although he said Wednesday there hadn’t been an attitude shift, he noted for the first time the commissioners are exploring alternatives. And he backed completely away from the hubristic idea of creating a new holiday tradition.

“The bigger priority,” he said, “is finding a date when the most people can watch the games.”