The National Championship Change

Should the National Championship for College Sports Be on the Weekend?

Photo by Riley McCullough on Unsplash

The United States is full of different colleges and universities, all who have various different sports. With all of these different sports, 365 schools contain a division one program in at least one sport. A division one program is the highest level of college sports an athlete can play at. With division one programs, each school has a chance to win a national title. Though these events usually take place on a Monday, more and more people, including some athletes, have pushed for the national championships to be on a weekend.

A majority of college sports games are played on the weekends. Specifically, college football games are often played on Saturday’s. This ends up hurting the viewership of fans who want to watch the national championship. When Michigan beat Washington in the college football national championship on Jan. 8, 2024, the game only amassed 25 million constant viewers. While the Rose bowl, the semi-final, which was on a Saturday amassed 27 million constant viewers. This meant that since the game was on a Monday, less people watched it than the semi-final.

If the national championship was not on a Monday, fans would be much quicker to sell the game out. This would be because fans would not have the worry about heading to work early the next morning. Along with that, more fans would be able to enjoy the game, rather than feeling they may have to miss the end to get enough sleep for the next day. This may also be another reason why the viewership was lower for the national championship game in 2024.

Though the national championship would be best if played on Saturday night, it would also work if it was played on Friday night. This would not affect college football’s viewership because it is not on the same day as an NFL game. This not only allows the fans to enjoy the game, but it also avoids conflict with other professional sports during the game time’s slot. If the national championship were moved to either Friday or Saturday it would have greater benefits than issues.

Even though national championships on the weekend may be more favorable to fans, opposers say that if the game was not on Monday, then it would ruin the tradition of having college sports on that day. However, many fans would say it is a greater tradition to have college sports on Saturday’s since gameday and other events are usually on Saturday.

Overall, the national championship for college sports would be better for the sport if they did not take place on Monday nights.