Power 5 Conferences Call It Quits Before Season Kicks Off
The ongoing debate about how and when to start the 2020 NCAA Division 1 college football season continues, but last week brought some major developments in a situation that everyone in sports is watching closely.
The Big Ten and PAC-12 conferences have elected to call off or, potentially, postpone their seasons, due to concerns related to COVID-19. This means two of the most powerful conferences in college football — representing roughly 40 percent of all the major college football teams — will not be playing in the fall, adding a significant wrinkle to what was already a very difficult situation.
This is a multilayered PR issue because college football impacts so many people in so many different ways. First, the money generated by playing the games helps not only the colleges but also multiple industries that depend on college football to keep their doors open. There is no way to overstate the importance of these funds to these schools, as well as to the vendors and local businesses that depend on game day.
Second, there are the fans and alumni for whom college football is about more than just a fun way to spend Saturdays in the fall. These folks are invested in what happens in and around those games, many of them literally. Without those games, the profile of schools they have invested time and money in is diminished. And there’s the players who also depend on TV time or game time to increase their potential draft status, who stand to miss an entire season, falling behind their colleagues at other schools who will play.
Then there are the ancillary industries, such as sports media, that are flush with content and advertisers when college football is in full swing but struggle to fill that hole without it. While not directly addressing these factors, spokesmen for both conferences did address the difficulty of these decisions.
PAC-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said, “This was an extremely difficult and painful decision that we know will have important impacts on our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, and our fans… We know nothing will ease that…”
Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren offered a similar statement, also citing the health of the conference’s players, “As time progressed and after hours of discussion with our (medical task force), it became abundantly clear that there was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow our student-athletes to compete this fall…”
The decisions were far from unanimous, though. Representatives from a few different prominent universities offered public statements dissenting from the decision. The University of Nebraska said, “We are very disappointed in the decisions by the Big Ten Conference to postpone the fall football season, as we have been and continue to be ready to play…”
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith told the media, “I wish we would have had a little more time to evaluate…”
The Big Ten would push back that these conferences have spent the past month trying to rework their schedules with the hope of actually playing the season, but they now say this is an untenable option that puts their players at too much risk.
It’s not a popular decision with fans or with many players, but the decision has been made, and now it’s up to the conferences to determine how to continue promoting that position to their stakeholders at every level. Complicating this message is the fact that other major conferences have said they still have plans to play, though some have said they may start their seasons later than usual.
Ronn Torossian is the CEO and Founder of 5W Public Relations. 5W PR is a leading digital pr and influencer marketing agency.
