I fail to see the logic of having so many 8:00 PM kickoffs. It's too late for many fans who attend games--they will be returning to their cars around midnight unless they leave early. And it means an 11:00 PM kickoff in the Eastern time zone.
I also fail to understand why the idiot who runs the league insists on weekday games which disrupt the educational mission of schools like USC, where students must compete with fans for parking and contend with hoards of fans passing through the campus to get to and from the Coliseum.
You must be unaware of billion dollar TV contracts. Fannies in the seats are secondary.
Let me tell you a little tale to think about when you’re watching a 3-1/2 or 4 hour college game.
When I was a freshman many moons ago, my team had a prolific offense, lots of scoring, lots of penalties, lots of turnovers. And remember, way back then halftime was 30 minutes, not 22 like it is now. Long games, right?
Three games in a row I happened to look at my watch when leaving the stadium. I didn’t rush out at the final horn, but left fairly soon afterwards.
Anyway, in all three cases, my watch read 4:40. KO was at 2:00.
Find any game that ends in under 3 hours now.
I think the rule back then was to start the play clock (kept by the ref, not displayed in stadium) one minute after a change of possession. So either one quick commercial on televised games - or stay there and actually discuss the game. Now you get 3-1/2-4 minute stoppages of play between about 2/3rds of possessions.
A few years ago they changed clock rules with the effect of reducing number of plays by about 10 total (to make more room for commercials). So, you get a smaller candy bar in the same size wrapper.
It’s all about TV money and the fans in attendance be damned.