IU could play under the lights on a Friday night next season.
The Big Ten announced Wednesday the conference will have six Friday-night games during the season starting in 2017, and though it’s a polarizing move, it could be one that pays dividends for the Hoosier program’s burgeoning national brand.
Friday-night games offer teams an opportunity to play in the only game during the time slot. The TV networks will feature that game exclusively and pour resources into promoting the game.
For established blue-blood programs like Ohio State and Michigan, playing on Friday nights makes little sense. Their stadiums are packed Saturdays no matter the opponent and garner national attention every single game.
IU, however, is not a traditional power in the Big Ten and receives significantly less national coverage. The change may inconvenience fans but could offer major rewards for the Hoosiers.
IU has kicked off in the 3:30 p.m. time slot on ESPN many times this season, but during those games, there are routinely three other quality games on at the same time. When IU played at then-No. 2 Ohio State, other big games were also going on. No. 9 Tennesse went to overtime against No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 17 North Carolina played No. 25 Virginia Tech, and Navy upset No. 6 Houston.
All these games diverted attention away from IU.
While fans of the Big Ten and IU’s opponent are watching the Hoosiers during these games, IU isn’t getting the national exposure a Friday-night game would provide.
Participating in the only game on television would allow more viewers to see what kind of program IU is and experience Hoosier football, possibly for the first time. As the Hoosiers look to become a consistent program, this also could provide a boost to recruiting.
While recruits may not be able to watch the game because they will be playing in their own games, just having the Friday game could create buzz around the program and the coverage could allow recruits to see what IU has to offer.
National exposure is always beneficial when a program is trying to recruit from coast to coast like IU does. The coverage could help players who haven’t heard much about IU before hear about the school, and those that are playing in games that night can see the highlights afterwards.
Attendance for Friday-night games might be a problem, but getting people into games is always going to be a problem for IU football. Friday-night games could be made into an event people see as special, and the novelty could actually incentivize people to go the game.
Another reason why playing on Fridays makes sense for IU is the singular game allows for moments to resonate beyond that weekend.
Former Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III launched his Heisman campaign with an impressive showing against TCU on a Friday night in 2011. Also in 2011, Iowa State shocked No. 2-ranked Oklahoma State on a Friday night.
While those games would have been important if they were played on a Saturday, the fact that they were played on Friday made them more memorable and had more people talking about them even to this day.
If IU could pull off a huge upset or have a signature play or moment, it would resonate much more than it would any regular Saturday filled with 20 such moments.
Playing on Fridays shouldn’t become the norm, but for IU, it would make perfect sense to do it every few years.
