The College Football Playoff has abandoned a plan to play its semifinals on most New Year’s Eves after television ratings tumbled last year, moving the dates of future games to ensure they will be played either on a Saturday or a holiday.
The changes will start with the 2018 season. The TV ratings for last year’s games played on Thursday, Dec. 31, dropped 36 percent from the semifinals played the season before on New Year’s Day.
This season’s semifinals are still set for Saturday, Dec. 31. Next season’s playoff is scheduled to be back on Jan. 1. After 2018, the games initially scheduled to be played on New Year’s Eve, will now be played Saturday, Dec. 29.
The 2019 games will move to Saturday, Dec. 28.
“We had a healthy discussion with a lot of people who love college football and we concluded that making these changes would be the right thing to do for our fans,” College Football Playoff Executive Director Bill Hancock said.