ESPN College Football
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Country of origin
| United States
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Network
| ESPN
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Release
| 1982
(
1982
)
?
present
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Television franchise series
ESPN College Football
is the branding used for broadcasts of
NCAA Division I FBS
college football
across ESPN properties, including
ESPN
,
ESPN2
,
ESPN3
,
ESPN+
,
ABC
,
ESPN Classic
,
ESPNU
,
ESPN Deportes
,
ESPNews
and
ESPN Radio
.
ESPN College Football
debuted in 1982.
ESPN College Football
consists of four to five games a week, with
ESPN College Football Primetime
, which airs at 7:30 on Thursdays. Saturday includes
ESPN College Football Noon
at 12:00 Saturday, a 3:30 or 4:30 game that is not shown on a weekly basis, and
ESPN College Football Primetime
on Saturday. A Sunday game,
Sunday Showdown
, was added for the first half of 2006 to make up for the loss of
Sunday Night Football
to
NBC
.
ESPN also produces
ESPN College Football on ABC
and
ESPN Saturday Night Football on ABC
in separate broadcast packages.
The American
,
ACC
,
Big 12
,
Conference USA
,
MAC
,
SEC
and
Sun Belt
are all covered by ESPN. Through its online arm
ESPN3
and the
ESPN+
streaming service, ESPN carries a wide variety of other athletic conferences and games at lower divisions, spanning the full breadth of college football.
History
[
edit
]
ESPN began airing taped college football games during the 1979 regular season, starting with a game between
Colorado
and
Oregon
. The network was limited to airing tape-delayed games because the
NCAA controlled television rights
through exclusive contracts. However, because bowl games operate outside the control of the NCAA, ESPN was able to air the
1982 Independence Bowl
between
Kansas State
and
Wisconsin
live (through a simulcast with the
Mizlou Television Network
) ? the first live football game televised on ESPN.
After the 1984 Supreme Court decision in
NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma
allowed individual schools to negotiate television rights, ESPN began broadcasting live regular-season games during the
1984 season
, beginning with a game between
BYU
and
Pittsburgh
on September 1, 1984.
[1]
The first live broadcast of a regular-season night game followed that night, between the
Florida Gators
, who were ranked number 17, and the
Miami Hurricanes
, who were ranked number 10.
[1]
In recent years, ESPN and ESPN2 air games at noon, which usually includes a
Big Ten
game. Both networks also air primetime games, typically featuring teams from the
ACC
or
SEC
.
With the expansion of ESPN, including multiple networks and outlets, their coverage has likewise increased. In 2005, with the creation of
ESPNU
, over 300 games were aired on its networks.
[2]
[3]
In 2007, the ESPN family of networks aired over 450 games. Also, they aired a weekly game on
ESPN Radio
for the first time ever.
[4]
ESPN started that season with 25 hours of college football programming.
[5]
Also, ESPNU has rapidly increased the coverage of
spring intramural team scrimmages
with entire programs dedicated to this phenomenon.
[6]
In 2008, ESPN aired
College GameDay
from
Florida Field
prior to their spring scrimmage game.
[7]
Starting with the 2007 season, ESPN began sublicensing games from
Fox Sports Net
, with the Big 12 Conference
[8]
(later extended until 2009)
[9]
and with the
Pacific-10 Conference
.
[10]
However, the games cannot air during the “reverse mirror” slot.
During the 2008 season, ESPN aired over 400 games.
[11]
Beginning in the 2010 season, ESPN acquired exclusive broadcast rights to the
Bowl Championship Series
in a four-year contract, where all games in the BCS would be aired on ESPN.
[12]
Also in 2010, the company launched
ESPN Goal Line
, a gametime-only channel that switches between games to show the most interesting plays, similar to
NFL RedZone
.
In 2012, ESPN reached long-term, 12-year agreements to retain rights to the
Rose Bowl
,
Orange Bowl
, and
Sugar Bowl
following the dissolution of the Bowl Championship Series.
[13]
In November, ESPN reached a 12-year deal to broadcast the remainder of the new
College Football Playoff
system, valued at around $470 million per-year, giving it continued rights to the
Peach Bowl
and
Fiesta Bowl
, as well as the
Cotton Bowl Classic
and the
College Football Playoff National Championship
.
[14]
For the 2014-15 postseason, ESPN implemented a major overhaul of its on-air presentation with
flat design
and a score box in the bottom-right of the screen, which soft launched during the
New Orleans Bowl
, and formally debuted alongside new imaging for the first CFP bowl games.
[15]
[16]
[17]
ESPN revamped its on-air presentation for college football again for the 2020 season, with a "test facility" theme, and a scoreboard along the bottom of the screen reminiscent of
Monday Night Football
.
[18]
In 2017, ESPN renewed its rights to the Big Ten, but lost its tier 1 rights to Big Ten football to
Fox Sports
, meaning that it no longer has the first choices of games each week.
[19]
[20]
In 2019, ESPN began a 12-year deal with the
American Athletic Conference
, with at least 40 football games on ESPN linear networks and ABC per-season, and all other content on
ESPN+
.
[21]
[22]
ESPN+ also acquired the third-tier media rights to most Big 12 teams, besides the
Texas Longhorns
(who have a partnership with ESPN on
Longhorn Network
) and
Oklahoma Sooners
(which had a partnership with
Fox Sports Oklahoma
).
[23]
[24]
ESPN+ eventually acquired the Sooners' rights in 2022, in an agreement that will last through its exit to the SEC in 2025.
[25]
[26]
In December 2020, ESPN announced a 10-year, $3 billion contract to hold the top media rights for the SEC beginning in 2024, ending its long-standing agreement with CBS, and seeing its flagship package of games move to ABC.
[27]
[28]
In August 2022, it was reported that ESPN had backed out of negotiations to renew its rights to Big Ten athletics after the 2022 season, ending a relationship dating back to the 1980s.
[29]
The Big Ten ultimately signed with Fox, CBS (where its Big Ten package will effectively replace its SEC package in 2024), and NBC, with all three networks holding shares of its college football and basketball rights.
[30]
[31]
Programs
[
edit
]
- College Football Live
- Daily program during the season and weekly show in the offseason
- College GameDay
- Weekly show (in-season) from the site of the biggest game of the day or significance
- College Football Final
- Saturday show reviewing the highlights of the days and the biggest stories
- College Football Scoreboard
- show providing scores, highlights, pre-game and post-game interviews, and check-ins of games of interest
- ESPNU programs
Former programs
[
edit
]
- Thursday GameNight
(formerly the
Weekend Kickoff Show
)
[32]
Coverage
[
edit
]
ESPN airs
Spring Football
games and coverage.
[6]
Coverage includes
College Football Final
which wraps the annual Spring Games.
[7]
During the regular season, ESPN airs pre-selected Thursday night marquee matchups. ESPN2 airs pre-selected Friday night contests from lesser known Division I schools. In late October and November, games almost exclusively from the
Mid-American Conference
air on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, usually on ESPN2.
The weekend games with the exception of the regular season are typically selected a week or two weeks out. ABC gets the first pick of games for all the major conferences, with the exception of the SEC, in which case CBS get their first selection.
ESPN/ESPN2 formerly aired coverage of
ABC
games in a "reverse mirror" format. Both networks will also air other selected midweek games and Sunday games, typically teams from more “minor” conferences (Sunday games are exceptionally rare because of conflicts with
ESPN Sunday Night Baseball
and the network's professional football coverage, both
NFL
and
Canadian football
).
[33]
ESPN Radio airs a weekly game as well as selected
College Football Playoff
bowl games including all bowl and national championship games.
[33]
ESPNU usually airs 5 games per week.
[33]
Before its closure in December 2021, ESPN Classic aired selected games throughout the year.
[33]
Typical games
[
edit
]
ESPN's Saturdays during the regular season begin at 9:00 AM ET with
College GameDay
, a three-hour live show that previews the day's games. This counts down to the first set of games for the day, which begin at noon ET on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. Another set of games will begin across those three networks around 3:30 PM. At the conclusion of the second game,
Saturday Night Football
on ABC games are presented each Saturday evening starting at 7:30 p.m. during the college football regular season, which has been the case since 2017.
ESPN College Football Saturday Primetime
starts around 7:00, as does another game on ESPN2. Late-night games begin on ESPN and ESPN2 around 10:30 ET, in
prime time
on the west coast.
Kickoff Week
is the first weekend of the college football weekend. Games include the
Advocare Classic
, the
Aflac Kickoff Game
and other non-conference action.
[34]
One game will air on ABC on Sunday night, and second game will air on ESPN on the following Monday night. After the first week of the college football season, the
NFL
season begins, and so these windows are filled with
NBC
's
Sunday Night Football
and ESPN's
Monday Night Football
, respectively.
Championship Weekend
always features the
MAC Championship Game
and will feature the Pac-12 Championship game every other year beginning in 2013. Previously it has featured the WAC Championship Game, the C-USA Championship Game, and the Big 12 Championship game before they changed affiliates or dropped below the minimum 12 teams required for a football championship.
The ESPN family of networks air the Division I FCS conference playoffs as well as the Division II and III championship games.
ESPN and ESPN2 air the bulk of the games during ‘‘Bowl Week’’ (which contrary to its name extends to well over two calendar weeks because of the huge number of bowls, many created by
ESPN's own event division
, the networks air).
[35]
Through the network's online arms
WatchESPN
and
ESPN3
, the ESPN networks cover the breadth of almost all levels of college football.
Nielsen ratings
[
edit
]
Conference Championship Games since 2015
[
edit
]
2021?22 Bowl Games
[
edit
]
Non-game action
[
edit
]
College GameDay
[
edit
]
ESPN airs
College GameDay
. Since 1993 and almost exclusively in recent years, it has aired from the top game of the week or one of significance. For the 2010 season, the show was expanded to three hours, with the first hour airing on ESPNU.
Since 1990, ESPN has aired the show live from the Boardwalk in
Orlando, Florida
. The show airs several awards.
[36]
Heisman Trophy Presentation
[
edit
]
Since 1994, ESPN has aired the Heisman Trophy from
New York City
. It is typically an hour-long program featuring interviews with past winners and nominees (with their families or coaches).
[36]
Personalities
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Gators and 'Canes to Meet in Orlando for 2019 Camping World Kickoff"
.
ESPNevents.com
.
ESPN
. April 26, 2016.
Archived
from the original on August 21, 2016
. Retrieved
January 19,
2019
.
- ^
"Jackson set to return for 39th season - tvlistings - ESPN"
.
ESPN.com
. 9 August 2005
. Retrieved
19 November
2014
.
- ^
"More than 300 games scheduled - tvlistings - ESPN"
.
ESPN.com
. 25 July 2005
. Retrieved
19 November
2014
.
- ^
"ESPN Media to Provide Extensive Multimedia Coverage of the 2007 College Football Season"
. Archived from
the original
on October 11, 2008
. Retrieved
February 19,
2016
.
- ^
"ESPN Press Room - for Media Professionals (formerly ESPN MediaZone)"
.
ESPN Press Room U.S
. Archived from
the original
on August 28, 2008.
- ^
a
b
"ESPNU to Feature Extensive Spring College Football Coverage with New Hookn Ladder Franchise"
. Retrieved
September 27,
2009
.
[
dead link
]
- ^
a
b
"College Game Day to Originate From Spring College Football Game for First Time Ever April 12"
. Retrieved
September 27,
2009
.
[
dead link
]
- ^
"ESPN to Televise Big 12 Regular Season College Football"
. Archived from
the original
on July 11, 2012
. Retrieved
September 27,
2009
.
- ^
College Football on ESPN#Coverage
- ^
"College Football Schedule"
. Archived from
the original
on July 8, 2012
. Retrieved
September 27,
2009
.
- ^
"College Football Talent"
. Archived from
the original
on March 26, 2010
. Retrieved
February 19,
2016
.
- ^
"ESPN and BCS Reach Four Year Agreement"
. Archived from
the original
on August 18, 2009
. Retrieved
February 19,
2016
.
- ^
"ESPN Reaches 12-Year College Football Agreement With Orange Bowl"
. Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from
the original
on January 7, 2013
. Retrieved
16 November
2012
.
- ^
"ESPN Strikes Deal for College Football Playoff"
.
Wall Street Journal
. Retrieved
9 January
2016
.
- ^
"It's College Football's Nation, we are Just Living in it"
.
Brand New
. Retrieved
2020-01-07
.
- ^
"ESPN debuts new college football graphics for bowl season"
.
Awful Announcing
. 2014-12-20
. Retrieved
2020-01-07
.
- ^
"ESPN appears to have a new college football scorebug"
.
Awful Announcing
. 2018-08-26
. Retrieved
2020-01-07
.
- ^
"ESPN reveals new college football anthem, graphics for 2020 season"
.
Awful Announcing
. 2020-08-26
. Retrieved
2021-09-02
.
- ^
Dellenger, Ross.
"How the ESPN-Big Ten Split Impacts Everyone in College Sports"
.
Sports Illustrated
. Retrieved
2022-08-12
.
- ^
Smith, Gerry (August 9, 2022).
"CBS Is Nearing a Deal for Big Ten TV Rights After ESPN Bows Out"
.
Bloomberg
. Retrieved
August 9,
2022
.
- ^
"AAC, ESPN Agree To 12-Year Media-Rights Deal Worth $1B"
.
www.sportsbusinessdaily.com
. Retrieved
2019-05-03
.
- ^
Murschel, Matt.
"AAC leader Mike Aresco touts new media rights deal, addresses ESPN+ criticism"
.
Orlando Sentinel
. Retrieved
2019-05-03
.
- ^
Moyle, Nick (July 15, 2019).
"Big 12 notes: Conference gets presence on ESPN+"
.
HoustonChronicle.com
. Retrieved
September 13,
2020
.
- ^
"ESPN's expanded Big 12 rights deal adds OTT extension"
.
SportsPro Media
. April 11, 2019
. Retrieved
September 13,
2020
.
- ^
"ESPN+ and OU Announce Multi-Year 'SoonerVision on ESPN+' Agreement"
.
University of Oklahoma
. Retrieved
May 5,
2022
.
- ^
"Oklahoma's PPV football game is going away"
.
Awful Announcing
. May 5, 2022
. Retrieved
May 5,
2022
.
- ^
"SEC, ESPN strike 10-year deal starting in '24"
.
ESPN.com
. 2020-12-10
. Retrieved
2022-08-13
.
- ^
Draper, Kevin; Blinder, Alan (December 10, 2020).
"SEC Reaches $3 Billion Deal With Disney, Drawing CBS Ties Toward an End"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
December 11,
2020
.
- ^
Smith, Gerry (August 9, 2022).
"CBS Is Nearing a Deal for Big Ten TV Rights After ESPN Bows Out"
.
Bloomberg
. Retrieved
August 9,
2022
.
- ^
"Big Ten lands multibillion-dollar TV deal, the richest in college sports"
.
Washington Post
. 2022-08-18
. Retrieved
2022-08-18
.
- ^
Rittenberg, Adam (2022-08-18).
"Big Ten completes 7-year, $7 billion media rights agreement with Fox, CBS, NBC"
.
ESPN.com
. Retrieved
2022-08-18
.
- ^
"ESPN.com - TVLISTINGS - ESPN's weekly college football update"
. Espn.go.com
. Retrieved
19 November
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"ESPN Press Room - for Media Professionals (formerly ESPN MediaZone)"
.
ESPN Press Room U.S
. Archived from
the original
on December 10, 2009.
- ^
"New Franchise to Capture Excitement of College Football Season Kickoff"
. Archived from
the original
on November 19, 2008
. Retrieved
February 19,
2016
.
- ^
"ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Radio, ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV to Provide Coverage of 29 College Football Bowl Games"
. Archived from
the original
on March 26, 2010
. Retrieved
February 19,
2016
.
- ^
a
b
"ESPN Press Room"
. Retrieved
September 27,
2009
.
[
dead link
]
External links
[
edit
]
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Executives
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U.S. networks
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Ventures
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Sports broadcasting rights
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Other properties
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Notable personalities
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Miscellaneous
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Related articles
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Programs
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Current commentators
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Past commentators
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Lore televised by ESPN
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Bowls broadcast by ESPN
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Other events broadcast by ESPN
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Broadcast networks
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Minor networks
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Cable channels
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sports networks
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Major events
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Miscellaneous
programs
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Contract
information
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Out-of-market sports packages
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