The FCS Daily Dose is a blog-style article series featuring an assortment of news, rumblings, quick hitters, and commentary on various topics.
A new Daily Dose will be published multiple times a week to keep the FCS discussion going throughout the offseason.
Why Monday Night Is The Best Option For The FCS Championship
The FCS championship game is heading to Monday night.
This season’s title game is moved to Monday, Jan. 6, and it will air on ESPN. The network has committed to the Monday night window for the 2025 and 2026 games (2024 and 2025 seasons). Kickoff time will be announced later.
Friday’s announcement drew plenty of online excitement. And some negative reactions as well.
But Monday night is the best option for the FCS both in TV exposure and fan experience.
There is a balance between television and the experience for those in attendance. It’s not as easy as saying “Just play Saturday afternoon like all college football games should be played.”
Pros And Cons
The cons of playing Monday night is it will require two vacation days for fans, plus the challenge of some kids potentially returning to school after winter break. There are pros and cons to whatever day the FCS championship is played on, though, whether it be a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.
A Friday night game would also require two days of vacation for most fans. TV windows are limited. Plus Frisco, who puts in a very, very, very healthy bid to host, pushed back on a Friday night game. They don’t want fans leaving before the weekend. The FCS championship weekend is estimated to bring in about $9.9 million in direct economic impact, a number that jumps to $16 million after taking indirect and induced spending into account. For comparison, the Frisco Bowl has about a $1.9 million economic impact. If you add in both indirect and induced impact, that number increases to roughly $3 million.
A Saturday game would have to be played at 11 a.m., likely on ESPN2. That has been the usual timeslot until the game moved to Sunday afternoon the last two seasons. The NFL (and its pregame and postgame shows) are taking over that Saturday. A morning game isn’t the best experience for fans and tailgaters.
A Sunday game is right in the middle of NFL games. The FCS championship has been played on Sunday on ABC for the last two years, which saw a drop in viewership. It also made the FCS title game feel like filler content that ESPN just threw into the open ABC Sunday slot. The Sunday move was a TV decision, not an FCS decision, but it doesn’t help the FCS brand when national sports reporters with big followings tweet “Why would the FCS go up against the NFL??”
Good For TV Exposure
So from a TV perspective with Frisco pushing back on a Friday game, it’s either ESPN2 Saturday morning, ABC in the middle of Sunday NFL games, or Monday night on ESPN with no competition.
There are no NFL games that Monday. And the CFP national championship, typically played that Monday, is pushed back due to the playoff expansion. Having that night to yourself is great exposure for the FCS.
The NCAA’s new eight-year agreement with ESPN to broadcast several postseason tournaments begins this year. It is worth $115 million annually to televise 40 college sports championships each year, including the FCS playoffs. The previous deal signed in 2011 was $34 million per year.
It was said that the national championship game in Division I women’s basketball, women’s volleyball, women’s gymnastics, and the FCS are guaranteed to air on ABC each year. But there is flexibility if a better TV window is determined. And a standalone Monday night game on ESPN is a much better TV option than middle-of-the-day NFL Sunday on ABC.
The FCS title game saw a drop in viewership the last two seasons on Sunday despite being on the major channel of ABC. 1.04 million people watched last season’s game, while viewership was 1.07 million the year prior. The 2021 season’s title game Saturday morning on ESPN2 drew 1.32 million. In the 2019 season, when the FCS title game had little TV competition and played Saturday on ABC, it drew a very impressive 2.68 million viewers. JMU’s TV market certainly helped in that big number compared to the smaller markets of Montana and the Dakotas.
It’s a safe guess that ESPN Monday will draw more eyeballs than ABC Sunday.
Good For Fan Experience
Monday night also provides a good fan experience outside of the vacation days needed.
Fans get a long weekend of filling Frisco/Plano bars with team colors. They get all day to tailgate instead of a Saturday morning game or Sunday early afternoon game. That will boost an already-electric atmosphere. And playing under the lights in Toyota Stadium will be unique for this championship.
Frisco, Texas, has hosted the FCS title game since the 2010 season, the longest host city in the game’s history. Frisco and its businesses have been a tremendous host that embraces the game. A concern, especially as the same small number of teams have played in the title game in the 2020s and will likely continue to do so in future seasons, is that the city and stadium will lose their luster with fans. And it may have already lost its luster for some fans.
Playing under the lights just provides something different for those fans who have been there/done that multiple times.
Sure, a Monday game may mean some families won’t be able to make it. But Toyota Stadium shouldn’t have a problem selling out if the usual teams with passionate followings continue to reach the championship, which is another safe guess.
Host City
The game isn’t leaving Frisco anytime soon.
The city has an option on its current contract to host the championship through the 2026 season (January 2027 game), an option that will very likely be used.
Bids to host in the 2027 season (2028 game) and potentially beyond were due in early February. Frisco was expected to put in another competitive bid to continue hosting. Other cities were said to also be interested. A source told HERO Sports that one city besides Frisco that showed interest was Tampa Bay, Florida. A rep from Tampa Bay was in Frisco to watch last season’s title game. USF’s new stadium was a part of the pitch.
Charleston, South Carolina, also showed some interest, but a source said they likely decided against submitting an official bid.
Who actually submitted bids to host the 2028 game is unknown. But another safe guess is Frisco is one, and one that will be tough to outbid.
One idea floated out there from someone working within the bidding process is that if there is a strong interest and a strong bid from another city or cities, the game could move to a rotating schedule. Just as an example: two years in Frisco, one year in Tampa Bay, two years in Frisco, one year in another city.
At the same time, we’re talking about January 2028 here. The reality is this discussion is small potatoes compared to where the NCAA and Division 1 football landscape is at down the road. The FCS might be renamed Division 1AAA by then. The teams currently dominating the FCS could be in a new middle-tier subdivision by then. Who knows? But changes to the FCS playoff bracket, whether it be the format, the championship host city, or when the title game is played get the juices and discussion flowing online.
And overall, from a TV and fan experience perspective, a move to Monday night has more pros than cons, and it has more pros than playing any other day of the week.
Clifton McDowell Commits To McNeese State
Quarterback Clifton McDowell, who helped lead Montana to an FCS title game appearance last season, committed to McNeese State.
He was recently on a visit to Prairie View A&M. An article that originally said he committed to Prairie View has been edited to say he was on a visit with no mention of a commitment.
McDowell was at FBS Louisiana in 2019 and 2020. He transferred to JuCo Kilgore College in 2021 and then went to FCS Central Arkansas in 2022. Last offseason, he transferred to Montana and finished the year 160/274 passing for 2,026 yards, 13 touchdowns, and four interceptions with 753 yards rushing and nine more scores. The Grizzlies reached the FCS national championship game for the first time since 2009.
McDowell entered the transfer portal in early January two days after the title game. He signed with FBS Temple on Feb. 7. And then on March 25, it was reported that McDowell was back in the portal. There was some scuttle and hints that he was trying to return to Montana. But it appears McNeese may be McDowell’s final destination.
The Cowboys, who play in the Southland Conference, finished 1-10 last season.
Other Daily Doses
Can UAlbany & Furman Sustain Success? + NC Central’s Devin Smith Commits To Villanova … READ MORE
Montana State’s OL Should Remain Top Tier Despite Transfer Losses, FCS Players In 5-Round Mock Draft … READ MORE
Future Of FCS vs. FBS Games, FCS Teams Playing 2 FBS Opponents In 2024, FCS Teams Playing 0 FBS Opponents In 2024 … READ MORE
