The ESPN broadcast of the College Football Playoff quarterfinals was a secondary concern after a terrorist attack in the French Quarter of New Orleans this week, but the attack threw the scheduled Sugar Bowl into question early Wednesday morning.
As ESPN, the CFP, the Sugar Bowl and local officials worked to reschedule the game between Georgia and Notre Dame, everything was on the table. A new report from Puck’s John Ourand suggests that while ESPN pushed to take advantage of the delay and air the game in primetime on Jan. 2, the CFP overruled the network.
ESPN even got clearance to move up the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville between Duke and Ole Miss, which was scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. But the participating programs and the CFP itself wanted an earlier start time in order to maintain more competitive balance. The winner of the Sugar Bowl was set to face off against Penn State, who had played Tuesday night in the Fiesta Bowl, and time was of the essence.
“The schools, for their part, favored an earlier kickoff time for competitive reasons, as it allows the winner more time to get home and start preparations for next week’s semifinal,” Ourand wrote.
In the end, the CFP and the two participating programs got their way.
“Ultimately, CFP decided on a 4 p.m. ET kickoff based on feedback from the teams, security, and law enforcement,” Ourand added.
The Gator Bowl was postponed 35 minutes, but ESPN still had two strong college football offerings throughout the weekday.
Considering safety and security considerations, ESPN was far from the primary player in this situation. However, it’s useful to learn how everyone reacted to the serious situation in New Orleans.
[Puck]
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