College football's schedule battle with the NFL and the law that sets its ground rules

College football and the NFL have historically avoided scheduling games against each other, in part because they legally had to.

That has started to change.

The NFL recently added a game on Black Friday along with an international game on a September Friday, putting marquee games in conflict with college football action.

The expanded College Football Playoff has multiple first-round games on a Saturday that used to belong solely to the NFL.

On Dec.

20, the Philadelphia Eagles will play the Washington Commanders and the Green Bay Packers will play the Chicago Bears on the same day as the CFPs first-round tripleheader.

Advertisement Why are key games at footballs highest level scheduled like this, and will it change? It all goes back to a bill signed into law by President John F.

Kennedy.

The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 The NFLs first attempt to sell its television rights en masse to CBS in 1961 was blocked by the courts as an antitrust violation.

NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle then went to Congress to get an exemption.

The NFL argued it needed to pool its rights for smaller-market franchises like the Green Bay Packers to survive.

The theory was that pooling the rights would also spur competition with the AFL.

The Sports Broadcasting Act created an antitrust exemption for pro football, basketball, baseball and hockey, allowing each league to pool its TV rights.

College football, which predates pro football and was more popular at the time, had long ago staked out Saturday as the best day for games, which is why pro football historically played on Sunday.

But the antitrust exemption laid out for the NFL in the bill created concern from college football leaders, who also began lobbying Congress to protect their Saturdays.

A 1961 letter from Wyoming athletic director Glenn Jacoby to Kennedy staffer Mike Manatos, obtained from the JFK Presidential Library and Museum by The Athletic , noted that the bill had a small exemption window carved out to protect college football: from noon to 6 p.m.

on Saturdays and from the second Saturday in September to the last Saturday in November.

But college sports leaders wanted to protect night games and early December games, too.

It is very apparent if the professional leagues push through this legislation indicated it would only be a matter of time until intercollegiate sports end up down the drain, wrote Jacoby, who included two tickets to Wyomings upcoming game against Utah with the letter.

I would certainly appreciate anything you might do in this respect.

Advertisement The House Judiciary Committee extended the start of the window to 6 p.m.

on Friday night, which would protect high school football as well, until midnight Saturday.

The bill passed, and Kennedy signed it into law on Sept.

30, 1961, just three weeks after it had been introduced.

Football broadcasts have largely abided by the law ever since, and the SBA helped the NFL become the television behemoth it is today.

Why can the NFL play on Black Friday? The NFL added a Black Friday game in 2023, but it kicks off at 3 p.m., so the game window generally ends without overlapping much into the 6 p.m.

hour when the law begins to protect high school and college football.

This year, the Eagles will host the Bears on Black Friday.

Why can the NFL play a Friday game in September? In recent years, the calendar has fallen such that Labor Day has been the first or second day in September.

Since the SBA only protects Fridays and Saturdays beginning the second Saturday in September, the calendar has kept that first weekend in September open for the NFLs Week 1, opening the door for an international game to be added on the first Friday of the season.

The Chiefs will play the Chargers at Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil; Louisville-James Madison is the only FBS game scheduled for the same night.

Why do the NFL and College Football Playoff go head-to-head in December? The expansion of the Playoff to 12 teams in 2024 created two additional postseason rounds one before New Years Day and one after.

The SBA only protects Saturdays until the second Saturday in December, which has become the traditional weekend of the Army-Navy game and the Heisman Trophy ceremony.

That meant the new first round of games would be outside the SBA protected window.

While the possibility existed to play midweek games on campus, the CFP and ESPN decided to play one game on Friday and three on the first Saturday of December available to the NFL.

In response, the NFL has started to put big matchups on that Saturday on network television, against the CFP.

Advertisement (ESPN also sub-licenses CFP games to TNT, including two first-round games.

In 2024, those two TNT games were the two that overlapped with the NFL kickoffs.) The NFL and CFP have subtly expressed frustration with each other over the conflict.

CFP executive director Rich Clark has visited NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss the issue.

Good conversations, Clark said last month.

Just understanding where we are, what the needs are on both sides.

We know and they know were all trying to play games in a similar window.

We have to do our best to de-conflict but also do whats best for both leagues.

If the CFP further expands in 2026, it could create another awkward search for where on the calendar the additional games should be played.

The NFL has still historically left New Years Day for college football, except when it falls on a Sunday.

In those cases, the Rose Bowl has been played on Monday, Jan.

2, a routine adjustment dating to the 1920s.

College football has played its national championship game on a Monday for two decades now, to avoid going up against the NFL playoffs.

The CFP semifinals last season were played on Thursday and Friday to avoid the first round of the NFL playoffs, and the same thing will happen in the 2025 season.

Will the SBA hold up? Some experts believe the language in the SBA could be tested, though it hasnt yet been tried.

The SBA only limits the broadcasting of a pro football game in those windows if a high school game is being played within 75 miles of a broadcasting station.

Should cable or streaming-only options be treated the same way? This years NFL Week 1 game in Brazil will be shown exclusively on YouTube.

At a Senate committee hearing earlier this month about sports streaming, Texas Senator Ted Cruz said it may be worth examining if college sports should be given a similar antitrust exemption under the SBA.

Advertisement One growing concern is that the NFL has used its special exemption in the SBA to the frustration of college and high school football schedulers, he said.

The NFL has tiptoed up to this rule, now putting a game on streaming on Black Friday afternoon, which used to be a slot reserved for prominent college football rivalries, including in some years, Texas and Texas A&M.

There are millions of sports fans who like being able to follow high school, college, and professional football without having to choose amongst them.

And its partly why Congress wrote the SBA in the manner it did.

Any SBA antitrust exemptions granted to college football could also remove one hurdle for a potential college super league.

For decades, the NFL and college football respected each others space.

But the expansion of games and schedules in both sports has eroded that.

Thursday night, now an NFL staple, used to be a notable college football window.

College football used to play a big rivalry game on Thanksgiving night; now it doesnt because the NFL has added a third game on that day.

The NFL has also decided to go big on Christmas, which historically had been ceded to the NBA.

Whats clear is that college football and the NFL will only battle more over TV windows, and the only thing keeping the peace is a law that dates back more than six decades.

(Photo: George Frey / Getty Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.