The NFL taking over Saturdays in December is nothing new.
With the college football regular season wrapping up Thanksgiving weekend and only a sprinkling of bowl games on the weekend schedule throughout much of December, the league has taken advantage of the empty space in the Saturday window.
But that changes in 2024. With the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams from four, the playoff slate will begin earlier than normal. And while the expectation was that games on that opening Saturday would only air on NFL Network, that won’t be the case.
On Monday, NBC announced that it will be airing an NFL game on Saturday, December 21, in direct competition with the College Football Playoff. Fox will reportedly do the same.
Naturally, sports fans don’t exactly enjoy having to divide their attention during major sporting events, and the response was about what you would expect when people learned they would either have to use multiple screens or choose between the games.
NBC Sports acquires extra @NFL regular-season game, to be presented Saturday, Dec. 21, on NBC, @peacock, and @Telemundo
Details:https://t.co/zttgdlbddY
— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) May 13, 2024
Some were annoyed with what they saw as another cash grab from the NFL, while others went as far as saying they’ll opt to watch the CFP games instead.
Here’s how NFL fans voiced their frustrations on social media:
College football playoff Saturday >
— In Jeff Brohm We Trust. (@VilleSportslive) May 13, 2024
Remember when we said that even though the first round of the CFP was going up against NFL regular season games, it wasn’t that bad because those games were NFL Network games.
Welp 👇🏻 https://t.co/FrT2f32ywI— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) May 13, 2024
I hate the NFL so much. Choosing to play a game on the Saturday of the first round of the College Football Playoffs. Nasty, greedy people. https://t.co/KS46KbQrzv
— Sheldon’s dad has officially died on young sheldon (@diawlectical) May 13, 2024
The NFL is directly going up against the college football playoff now https://t.co/J5bZMNTKuv pic.twitter.com/zjwgsf9gK1
— Pregame Empire (@PregameEmpire) May 13, 2024
Hate the idea of NFL games clashing with College Football Playoff games. Anyone think this is a good idea? https://t.co/0s7idCDUu6
— Ben Isaacs (see pinned tweet) (@tweetsfromben) May 13, 2024
There's really only one last frontier left for the NFL, and that's putting its best/most consequential Week 18 game against the CFP title game https://t.co/C7MjkNIIPX
— Empty Seats Galore (@EmptySeatsPics) May 13, 2024
