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College football Saturdays used to be a buildup to the bigger games later in the day, and the early games did not garner much attention. However, with FOX Sports' introduction of Big Noon Kickoff, that has changed ever since they launched. FOX saw an opening for some marquee games early on in the day, and it worked out well for them because most Saturdays feature the biggest names in the sport, with all of their competition set for later on in the day.
Despite FOX seeing this as a business opportunity, many college football fans have expressed disappointment and outrage over their games constantly being played in the early window, especially for Big Ten teams, since FOX has a giant stake in the conference.
Ohio Representative Tex Fischer has taken the outrage a step further, presenting a bill that would bar any game involving a state university football team from kicking off before 3:30 p.m. ET, except for the rivalry game against the Michigan Wolverines, which is traditionally played at noon ET every year. According to this bill, noon kickoffs would also be banned in Ohio if both teams are ranked in the top 10 of the AP Poll. This would heavily affect how the reigning champion, the Ohio State Buckeyes, can schedule their games.
Any violation of this bill would result in a financial penalty. According to the bill, the host team's conference or television network would be fined $10 million if it violated the bill.
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The bill's clear target is the Big Ten and FOX, and is built around the Big Noon Kickoff, but there are significant ramifications outside of that due to how many MAC teams are in the state that still play FBS football, even though they are not on the same level as Ohio State.
Fans complain about noon kickoffs the most due to the lack of tailgating time and the lower energy of an early game compared to one in primetime. However, playing earlier games due to weather is also beneficial for some teams in the conference.
This could get very pricey for the state of Ohio because the Big Ten has a media rights deal with FOX worth a reported $8 billion.
It remains to be seen if this bill gets any clear traction or is performative, with a state politician stating how annoying noon games are. However, bills like this are not uncommon. A recent lawmaker in Louisiana introduced a bill only to play LSU games at night, and the state of Arizona has a law that forces its schools to only play at night at the beginning of the season due to the heat.
