From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about what we would do if we were in charge of our favorite position group, team, conference, or sport.
You can catch up on all of theTheme Week content hereand all of our”If I Was in Charge” articles here.
“College GameDay” has become a part of our American culture since the show began traveling in 1993. Getting up for Gameday on Saturday mornings has become a tradition for so many of us, with the three-hour show a build-up to Lee Corso putting on the headgear of the team he thinks will win the game, the show is there for.
Fans, particularly students, are what make the famous packed crowds at College Gameday. I always enjoy the unique and creative signs fans bring to the show. This is how the pageantry, tradition, and everything else that makes college football great are showcased.
It’s all got me thinking; what if some of the NFL’s pregame shows traveled to various cities during the season?
Currently, the networks that carry season-long packages of prime time games — NBC, ESPN, and Amazon Prime Video — have all or parts of their pregame/studio shows on-site at each week’s game. But what if CBS and FOX took their iconic pregame shows, “The NFL Today” (CBS) and “FOX NFL Sunday,” on the road throughout the season?
“The NFL Today” did two shows on the road last season, and it was awesome to see it on-site in Buffalo and Detroit, respectively. Those are two passionate fan bases whose teams have both been enjoying renaissance periods this decade.
But it’s not just Bills Mafia or One Pride in Detroit. The NFL has many incredible fan bases that would, I believe, turn out in droves, even thousands, if these pregame shows came to their cities.
Similar to the tradition and pageantry of a Saturday during college football, the spectacle of an NFL Sunday has become an integral part of our lives. The best time to watch an NFL game, in my opinion, is 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday. That’s because the “NFL on CBS” featured 4:25 games are the most-watched window during the NFL week, and because I grew up watching “America’s Game of the Week on FOX” with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the call. That was the soundtrack of my childhood as a lifelong sports fan.
Imagine CBS and FOX’s hour-long pregame shows at the site of the featured 4:25 p.m. game that particular week. Not only that, but they would be on-site for halftime of the 1:00 p.m. games and then on-site for pregame, halftime, and postgame surrounding the featured 4:25 p.m. game.
This would be a fantastic experience for fan bases of many NFL teams. We saw “The NFL Today” go to Buffalo when the Bills played the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11 last season, and they then went to Detroit when the Bills played the Lions in Week 15.
But having these pregame shows travel throughout the season would add to the big-game feel these featured matchups already have. Can you imagine the signs NFL fans would create at these pregame shows? Can you imagine, when the Philadelphia Eagles play at the Buffalo Bills in Week 17, a live pregame show on-site in Buffalo in late December? Bills Mafia would be out in full force.
Speaking of Bills Mafia, the Bills host the Bengals in Week 14 in an America’s Game of the Week matchup on FOX. Joe Burrow vs. Josh Allen. That matchup could get even better if “FOX NFL Sunday” took its show to Buffalo for the day.
CBS has featured 4:25 p.m. matchups this season in Green Bay (twice), Kansas City, Denver (three times), Buffalo, Dallas (Thanksgiving), Pittsburgh, and Detroit this season. Those are cities with incredible fan bases that would very easily make attending an on-site pregame show a part of their routine on gameday.
FOX has “America’s Game of the Week” matchups at Kansas City, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas (twice), Washington, Detroit (Thanksgiving), Buffalo (twice), Los Angeles, and New York. As a Bengals fan, I know Who Dey Nation would show up if FOX NFL Sunday came to Cincinnati. Especially since that’s the week the Bengals host the Lions, because that could be the White Bengal game. Imagine all the Bengals fans in a sea of white at the “FOX NFL Sunday” set.
Like “College Gameday,” “The NFL Today” and “FOX NFL Sunday” have become a significant part of NFL fans’ Sunday routines. Both shows have great personalities that fans resonate with. Having those personalities and shows at various sites throughout the season will bring a “College Gameday”-like element to NFL games.
The NFL keeps getting more and more popular. CBS and FOX taking their pregame shows on the road for their featured matchups would increase their respective show ratings and make the spectacle of NFL games even better.