The Big Noon Debate: Will Ohio State’s Early Games Lead to Change?

Columbus is the center of the college football world this weekend, as No. 2 Ohio State (9–1) hosts unbeaten Big Ten counterpart No. 5 Indiana (10–0). But many Buckeyes fans aren’t happy with what the national spotlight has led to.

The game will be Ohio State’s fifth consecutive noon ET kickoff, one of six straight to end the season and seven overall in 2024.  

Fox puts its best matchup of the weekend in its Big Noon Saturday game window, which features Indiana–Ohio State in Week 13. The network is believed to be paying roughly $400 million annually for Big Ten rights, as part of $7 billion–plus deals that see CBS and NBC each contribute about $350 million per year.

So, Fox almost always gets the top pick of games. Could things be changing, though?

“That’s an offseason conversation,” Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork told Buckeyes-centric website Eleven Warriors this week.

Big Ten newbie Oregon is undefeated and ranked No. 1, but Fox has yet to broadcast a noon ET kickoff from the West Coast. Meanwhile, defending champion Michigan is struggling this year with a 5–5 record.

“We’re the biggest brand within the Big Ten,” Bjork said. “We have the most fans who watch our games. The ratings are really high.”

What Do the Numbers Say?

Fox’s strong noon games led to the most-watched CFB broadcast window of the 2023 season. 

This fall, Big Noon Saturday matchups have drawn some monster TV ratings, like 9.94 million viewers for Ohio State–Penn State and 9.35 million for Michigan-Texas. But CFB games on ABC (typically SEC contests) have actually drawn the most viewers at noon on seven out of 12 Saturdays, according to Sports Media Watch.

Primetime SEC games on ABC have drawn the biggest audiences of the season, and Ohio State’s lone primetime game at Oregon drew more than 10 million viewers on NBC.

Talking Points

Earlier this month, Fox No. 1 CFB game analyst Joel Klatt took to X/Twitter to defend the early start times. 

“Fox Sports saw a clear opportunity to build value into the sport by creating a 3rd window for premium CFB,” Klatt wrote. 

He also posted, “When each network gets to select a game for network AIR it must be shown in that [network’s] exclusive window.”

At rival ESPN, Pat McAfee has repeatedly taken jabs at the noon kickoffs. On College GameDay at Penn State, ahead of a matchup with Ohio State, McAfee said, “This game is not at night, this is a Big Noon Kickoff,” followed by boos from the crowd.

This week, McAfee and J.J. Watt, a CBS NFL analyst and regular guest of McAfee’s, both lamented the noon start times. “It’s frustrating,” said Watt, who played in the Big Ten at Wisconsin. “It does feel like we are hurting ourselves with not having the best games at night.”

“I respect how much money Fox has given to broadcast these games at noon,” McAfee said. “But me, personally, you work to get under the lights.”