Nobody knows exactly what the specifics of the 2020 college football season will be. From playing as scheduled to modified fall schedules, to playing in the spring, there is absolutely no shortage of scenarios on the table as the entire sports world attempts to figure out how to get going in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. Perhaps a glimmer of hope, a vast majority of athletic directors responding to a survey suggests college football will definitely be played in some capacity.
According to a survey conducted by Brett McMurphy of Stadium, a whopping 99 percent of ADs responded affirmatively that college football will be played. But there is a split in opinions on just how the to-be-determined season will go down.
According to McMurphy’s survey results, 24% of FBS ADs who responded (114 in all) believe the season will go off without a hitch. There is slightly more confidence in that happening among power conference ADs (28%) and slightly less optimism from non-power conference ADs (22%).
A total of 41% of all ADs believes a full 12-game regular-season schedule will be played beginning in October or November. 11% of the ADs responding believe the season will begin in the spring.
At this point, it is still too early to know just what will happen with the upcoming college football season. But what is known is the financial value, or importance, to playing a college football season. The impact of not playing football would be felt not just at the gates, but in more lost revenue from media partners. And after schools missed out one significant revenue distribution due to the canceled NCAA basketball tournament, and given schools are having coaches take pay cuts and go on furlough, there is pressure to get a football season played almost by any means necessary.
