During the fall, Friday nights have traditionally been a time for high school football. Now, however, the Big Ten conference will break tradition and play their games on Friday nights. The Big Ten announced teams will be playing six Friday games every season until 2022 as part of a new T.V. deal with ESPN, ABC and FOX. Many schools within the Big Ten conference are upset about the decision. Jim Harbaugh, the head coach at Michigan, said in a press conference, “I think college football is a Saturday game. I’m for traditional Saturdays. Friday night is for high school football.” Michigan, as well as Penn State, declined to participate in Friday games and were not scheduled to play any this upcoming season. Other schools said they won’t play Friday night games after Labor Day weekend, around the time high school football starts.
These schools worry recruiting will be hurt and fear fans will have to decide between college and high school games. Michael Brees, senior, said, “I feel like people wouldn’t show up to high school games, and that would suck. I feel like some of the players might not be as focused on the game.” Cameron Trentz, senior, said, “The loyalty of college fans would override their will to support their high school team. The reward of high school players’ hard work would be diminished and not keep them as motivated.”
Peter Cownia, a Republican state representative of West Des Moines talked about introducing a bill that would make it illegal for colleges in Iowa to schedule football games on Friday nights. This would eliminate interference with high school football but would create another issue. Iowa and Nebraska play their trophy game in November on Black Friday. This bill would make playing this game in Kinnick Stadium impossible, even though the game already occurs after high school football ends.
