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Texas Tech football may not have 11 am home game this year thanks to FOX

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TX - OCTOBER 22: General view of fireworks during the National Anthem before the game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Oklahoma Sooners on October 22, 2016 at AT
LUBBOCK, TX - OCTOBER 22: General view of fireworks during the National Anthem before the game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Oklahoma Sooners on October 22, 2016 at AT /
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Thanks to a decision by the FOX network, the Texas Tech football team may not have to worry about an 11 am kickoff in 2019.

The good news for Texas Tech football fans is that there’s a very real possibility that we may not have to endure any 11 am kickoffs in 2019.  The bad news?  That would mean the Red Raiders are not very relevant in the Big 12 race.

This week, the Big 12’s primary television partner, FOX, has announced its intention to move its top game of the week to noon eastern.  This is reportedly a strategic decision for the network which is hoping its most high-profile game will carry the rest of the day’s programming to better ratings than ABC, ESPN and CBS, which have long dominated the college football ratings game.

While fans in places like Norman, Austin, Columbus, Ann Arbor and Happy Valley may be angered by this news, this decision could give fans in Lubbock a reprieve from the hated 11 am local kickoffs that have been blamed for part of the Red Raiders’ attendance woes in recent years.  But while Tech fans will not mourn the loss of early kickoffs, it should be noted that if Tech is not on FOX at 11, it means that the Red Raiders are not as prominent in the college football landscape as we would like.

With Tech set to visit both Oklahoma and Texas (the two primary ratings giants in the conference) this year, it is hard to imagine any of the Red Raider home games being placed in the featured time slot.  While Red Raider fans almost always show up well when TCU and Oklahoma State come to town, those matchups will not move the needle enough nationally to be 11 am FOX broadcasts unless something unexpected happens and one or both teams enter those respective games undefeated.

And considering that FOX has the broadcast rights for the Major League Baseball playoffs in October, it is fair to wonder just how often Tech will show up on the network’s national airwaves at all.  If they do, it will likely be on the road at Oklahoma where an 11 am kickoff is preferable for the road team.

This scheduling decision will have to make fans reevaluate how they view the prestige of the 11 am kickoff.  For years, networks like ABC, ESPN and CBS have put less interesting games on in the early window saving their best matchups for 2:30 (CBS) or primetime (ABC and ESPN) causing fans to perceive the 11 am kickoff as a slight reserved for the dregs of the conference…Kansas.

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But as Tech lurched towards the bottom of the Big 12 hierarchy during the six-season Kliff Kingsbury era, the 11 am kickoff became more common in Lubbock.  For instance, in 2017 when Tech hosted TCU, Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Kansas State as their four conference foes, all but the Oklahoma State game kicked off in the early window.  But last year, Tech had just two 11 am kicks, West Virginia and Kansas.

Though some believe that the 11 am kick should be no deterrent to fans (after all, we don’t mind showing up for a number of other activities that begin much earlier in the day), the attendance at Jones Stadium has been sparse for early games, especially among the student body.  But in fairness, fans in Lubbock have been rather fickle in their support of the football program in recent years as even night games against Texas and Oklahoma last year finished in front of a stadium that was 75% empty in the fourth quarter.

As a result, the university and athletic department have introduced changes to the game day experience aimed at attracting fans and keeping them in the stadium for the entire game.  Alcohol will now be sold in the Jones meaning fans will no longer be able to leave the stadium and drink in the parking lot if they wish to re-enter the game (which most have not wished to do lately).

Additionally, adjustments to tailgating areas, aimed at giving student organizations spots closer to the stadium, have been proposed.  And concession prices have been slashed, which was a huge hit when the same policy was enacted at basketball games this season.

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But the main draw that will bring fans back to Jones Stadium and keep them there for the entire game will be winning football.  Of course, if Tech starts winning again, we may have to fight through some of those dreaded 11 am kickoffs.  But if preseason expectations are any indication, that likely won’t be a problem in 2019.

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