Getty Image / Ron Jenkins
Attending a big college football game is all about tailgating all for hours and then meandering into the stadium to cheer on your favorite team. But, the executives at Fox Sports robbed Colorado fans of that experience in the biggest home game for Colorado football in years.
After the school hired Deion Sanders following last season, excitement started to build almost immediately. Record numbers of tickets were sold, with the school having a packed house for the spring game.
That excitement has reached a fever pitch following last week’s stunning upset on the road at defending national runners-up TCU. Colorado, now ranked 22nd in the AP Poll, racked up 551 yards of total offense as Shedeur Sanders and two-way phenom Travis Hunter announced themselves as Heisman candidates.
With longtime rival Nebraska coming to Boulder, anticipation seemingly could not get any higher. As of 11:15 PM Friday, the cheapest ticket on StubHub to for the Colorado-Nebraska game was just over $300. Meanwhile, in Tuscaloosa, where Alabama will host Texas, the cheapest ticket was much less, at just $124. Yes, Bryant-Denny Stadium is twice as big as Folsom Field, but that’s still impressive considering you could get tickets for $5 last year during Colorado’s 1-11 season.
Fox Sports had the right to choose the game for their marquee Big Noon slot, and they shamefully did. It’s incredibly dumb when big games played at Penn State or Ohio State are kicked off at noon instead of a time slot later in the day. This game won’t kick off at noon in Boulder, Colorado. It will kick off at a ridiculous, sophomoric, 10AM local time.
That’s a joke. Why not schedule the game for the 4PM kick and play Iowa-Iowa State at 11AM local time? Pick any other game to play on Big Noon. But, don’t ruin the day for long-suffering Colorado fans who have longed for an authentic college football experience for years, only to be robbed of it by greedy TV executives. Shameful.