Ohio State fans who want the Buckeyes to play more big games at night have an ally on their side in athletic director Ross Bjork.
During his press conference at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Thursday, Ohio State’s second-year athletic director made it clear at every opportunity that he wants the Buckeyes to have more marquee night games. The problem is, it’s largely out of his control whether that will actually happen – at least for the next five years.
Per the terms of the Big Ten’s current TV contract, FOX, CBS and NBC each have defined broadcast windows for their Big Ten game of the week on their national networks, with FOX airing a game at noon, CBS airing a game at 3:30 p.m. and NBC airing a game at 7:30 p.m. each Saturday. Because FOX is the conference’s primary rightsholder, it gets the first choice of games in a majority of weeks, and that first choice is frequently Ohio State’s game – especially when the Buckeyes are playing a high-profile opponent – because of the ratings Buckeye games consistently deliver.
The contract doesn’t leave much framework for Ohio State or other Big Ten schools to choose which time slots they’ll play their games in, leaving them largely at the mercy of the networks to choose their kickoff times for them. And that means Ohio State’s marquee regular-season games will likely be noon games on FOX more often than not until the current contract expires after the 2029 season. But Bjork wants that to change in the future.
“Really, at the end of the day, there's no flexibility in the contracts,” Bjork said. “FOX bought the noon window, CBS bought the afternoon window, and NBC has the night window. And then the Big Ten Network and Peacock layer into that. So what we need is we need more flexibility. Can that happen anytime soon? I don't know. But I think every program should deserve the right to have way more flexibility.
“We have carried the day for Big Noon. There's no question about it, if you look at the viewership. So we understand why FOX went with Big Noon. We understand why we're picked all the time. But we're hoping just more flexibility, that's what we're looking for.
“And so I think (Big Ten commissioner Tony) Petitti is gonna work with our TV partners. We're gonna continue to have those conversations. But can anything change any time soon? Probably not, because those contracts are rigid and they're locked in for several years.”
What more flexibility could look like in the Big Ten’s next TV contract remains to be determined. That will depend in part on whether the Big Ten renews its deal with its current partners or brings in new broadcasting partners in 2030. And Bjork recognizes there has to be some give and take between Ohio State, the rest of the conference and its broadcast partners to keep everyone happy.
That said, it should theoretically be possible for the schools and networks to work together so that they have more say in what times their games will kick off. For instance, the next contract could include some framework that allows networks to swap time slots so that more marquee games can be played in primetime. Or it could give Ohio State and the conference’s other top moneymakers some veto power over being repeatedly selected to play at noon.
Bjork was noncommittal on how much Ohio State would throw its weight around to get what it wants during the next round of TV contract negotiations, but he will push for more collaboration that allows the Buckeyes to play more big games at night.
“I think we can be firm in our positioning. I think we can show data on how we have carried the day,” Bjork said. “We have said no to Friday night games. I mean, there's been some things that we have kind of drawn a line in the sand, and that's OK. But I think we need to be thoughtful about, OK, there's gonna be a balance. We do have a TV partner with FOX. They're paying us a lot of money. They actually sublicensed to CBS and NBC, right? And so what we're hoping for is that there's a little more collaboration because of that, and so we'll continue to express that.”
“What we need is we need more flexibility. Can that happen anytime soon? I don't know. But I think every program should deserve the right to have way more flexibility.”– Ross Bjork on the Big Ten’s TV contract
An Ohio state representative recently proposed a bill that would prevent games between Ohio State and a top-10-ranked opponent from being played at noon with the exception of the Michigan game. That bill is unlikely to pass or create any actual change, but Bjork doesn’t mind the effort to create more publicity around Ohio State’s push for more night games.
“I think that's the cool thing about being in Ohio is that everybody cares. No matter what corner you're in or no matter what the issue is, people care. And so people care about that issue, and they want to talk about it,” Bjork said. “So if this is a way to bring light to it – don't know where it'll go out of committee – but if this is a way to bring light to it, we're OK with that. We're OK having those conversations. So not a linear path, necessarily, on that bill, but we'll pay attention to it.”
Bjork did his part to try to get Ohio State’s biggest home game this season moved to primetime by pitching the idea of the Buckeyes playing their season opener against Texas on Sunday night rather than Saturday. FOX agreed to the proposal, which Bjork said he introduced all the way back in November. But Ohio State’s contract with Texas gave the Longhorns veto power over changing the date of the game, and Texas shot down the request.
“We asked them, I don't blame them,” Bjork said of Texas’ denial.
Bjork had good reason, though, for at least trying to get the highly anticipated clash with Texas moved to primetime. For one, it would have helped the Buckeyes turn the game into a bigger recruiting showcase, as the Saturday at noon start time makes it more difficult for out-of-state prospects to travel to Columbus after playing in Friday night high school games. Secondly, it would have aided Ohio State’s efforts to create a raucous environment inside the Shoe.
As improving the gameday atmosphere inside Ohio Stadium remains a top priority for Bjork, he acknowledges having more big-time night games would go a long way in that regard. That might not happen this year, as it’s expected Ohio State vs. Penn State will also be a noon game on FOX, which had the top three picks in the Big Ten’s TV draft. But that won’t stop Ohio State’s efforts to encourage more crowd noise this year.
“More night games … We've already covered that, right?” Bjork replied when asked about how the Ohio Stadium atmosphere can improve. “Look, I just think that fans just, they want to modernize. They want to continue to innovate. They see these other things happening around the country. I think we saw what happened in the Tennessee game, right? And that script had to be different ‘cause it's dictated by the CFP. And so I think we learned a lot. We were already studying things before that, but we learned a lot from that.
“So when we play music, how we play music. We have to do sponsor obligations, but how we do that. Can that look different? How we recognize former athletes, award winners. We have this famous ramp, right, that the band comes down. How could we utilize the ramp during the game for recognitions, right? The Victory Bell is really symbolic, what could we do with that? So it's kind of taking the traditional elements and overlaying that with new ideas, whether it's some new music, whether it's different elements that just incorporate our history. Somebody asked me, one of our staff members asked me yesterday, like what's been the really cool thing? And I said, really embracing the history here. Like there's so many powerful stories that if we weave that in, it's gonna connect people more. So those are the kind of things that we're putting together.
“We are working on a new video board, new LED ribbon boards. Can't happen for this year, hopefully by fall of ‘26. Sound system as well, a distributed sound system. There's always gonna be continued improvements around the Shoe. But game day atmosphere, I think, can just take a lift. And it's really about just adapting to the times. It's modernizing, it's cleaning a lot of things up. It's taking our script and kind of making some things shorter. Layering just different elements that I think, the plan is really, really strong. And I think our fans are gonna gravitate towards it.”
Ohio State’s offseason efforts to improve its gameday atmosphere, even in spite of playing its biggest games at noon, will be put to the test on Aug. 30 when the Buckeyes host the Longhorns in their season opener at the Shoe.
