President Trump officially threw his hat into the ring concerning the future of the annual Army-Navy game and its exclusive college football time slot on the second Saturday in December.
Trump signed an executive order Friday that orders the Secretary of Commerce and the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission to work with the NCAA, the College Football Playoff committee and others to ensure that “America’s Game” maintains an exclusive window. The order comes as some in college football talk about expanding the postseason playoffs to 16 or even 24 teams from the current 12-team format and the need to play some games on the second Saturday of December.
Trump, who has attended a number of Army-Navy games as president and a private citizen, has been adamant that no other college football games are played during the contest, an understanding pretty much maintained by all of FBS-level college football. It seems that the executive order met with firm approval from the brass at West Point and the Naval Academy as well as the American Conference, which both teams play in.
Though financial information is not public, it is well known that the two schools receive substantial money from CBS for the rights to broadcast the game with little competition and the game is usually a sellout of 70,000 to 80,000 fans.
But is the edict worth the paper it is written on? Maybe not. First, even Trump acknowledges that someone is going to challenge the executive order in court, either through first amendment and freedom of speech or existing FCC regulations. Second, Trump’s order could very likely be overturned by the next president as early as 2029.
Third, even Army and Navy may look to move the game since it could interfere with both teams’ attempts to qualify for the playoffs, which could become more likely with 24 teams entered into the tournament.
Army coach Jeff Monken has made it clear that he wants to do all he can to give his team a shot at the postseason tournament and, right now, playing the game the week after bids are announced creates a handicap for both teams to get in.
Of course, Trump’s order may force the NCAA to create another spot for the game. While Thanksgiving Day is much discussed, the fact that the NFL plays three games starting at noon on the holiday eliminates that day. Plus, the student bodies at both academies are on leave for the holiday week and there is not much support for forcing the cadets and midshipmen to miss family holiday dinners to serve as backdrops for the game on that day.
A lack of students in the stands pretty much eliminates the Friday after Thanksgiving and the Saturday/Sunday of that week.
Three alternatives that appear to be gaining traction is playing the game early on the existing Saturday before CFB games, or on Veterans Day every year and making it a primetime TV event or starting the college football season one week earlier, in August, and allowing Army-Navy to keep its exclusivity, but on the first Saturday in December.
Of course, the problem with the first alternative is that the game would be cancelled if either team made the playoff, something that would greatly annoy CBS, the host city and stadium, not to mention ticket-holders.
No matter what, Trump’s order will get people talking and put pressure on the powers-that-be in college football to come up with some kind of alternative. Trump’s command will make people stop and think about alternatives, but, in the end, whatever is developed may be short-lived in less than three years.
