My thought too, why 9/8? why not now?
They're dripping this info slowly. If they can drag it out over the course of a couple of months or so, it will play like a soap opera. The longer it percolates, the harder it will be to ignore.
I think they have it mapped out. They have a critical timeline to release specific info at specific points.
Because NOBODY but us would pay it any attention now; that's why.