Includes an unexpected picture of an ESPN camera truck at an Iowa State game in 1980. Despite the Times’ tenuous relationship with college sports, this is something to read, especially when you remember Boston College’s former AD saying “ESPN is the one who told us what to do” in regards to adding Pitt and Syracuse to the ACC. (Which makes the quote at the end of this story very ironic.)
Iowa State’s football media guide in 1981 listed every game far in advance as being at 1:30 PM, except for a night game at San Diego State. That’s not the case today. Even right now, for example, the Kansas State-Texas game Sept. 21 doesn’t have a scheduled start time. (That also makes it possible for hotels to demand two-night stays on game weekends.)
The extent of ESPN’s influence over college football is literally displayed on the face of your ticket to next week’s game. Tickets to most games are printed with the date and the opponent’s name, but something is missing: the kickoff time. That is because ESPN, under its contracts with conferences, has the right to set kickoff times and wait until 12 days before game day, or in some cases only six, to inform universities.