An Upfront Presentation to ABC: Put Penn State-Temple on ABC

If the early-season TV schedule release at the end of May is Christmas, then the upfront presentations two weeks prior are like Christmas Eve. Yesterday, Fox announced a pair of network selections, including the week two clash between Oklahoma and Michigan on September 12.

This game will undoubtedly win the noon ratings battle between Fox and ABC that day. However, a counterprogramming strategy could benefit the American and Temple.

ABC owns the rights to a pair of massive SEC non-conference games. Tennessee visits Georgia Tech that day, but more importantly Texas hosts Ohio State. Logically, ABC should put Tennessee-Georgia Tech at 3:30 and give Texas-Ohio State the Saturday Night Football slot. This leaves the noon slot to much speculation.

The idea of putting Temple-Penn State on ABC at noon ET will surely draw laughter. Still, there is a strong case for it. Penn State's visit to Philadelphia is a rare chance for ABC to air a regular-season Nittany Lions’ game. ABC has not aired a Penn State regular-season game since 2023. The network will not have another opportunity to air one until 2028, when it travels to Syracuse.

Despite not having a contract with the Big Ten, ESPN still values Big Ten inventory. The network gave the Wisconsin-Alabama game the ABC noon slot on September 13th last season despite the Badgers finishing 5-7 in 2024 and not eclipsing seven wins since 2021.

Despite controversy and recent disappointments, Penn State remains one of college football's most well-known programs. Last season's Pinstripe Bowl shows the Nittany Lions' influence. A 6-6 Penn State squad delivered the Pinstripe Bowl's highest TV ratings ever for the game's noon ET ABC broadcast. 7.6 million television viewers watched the Nittany Lions play another 6-6 team in Clemson. This was over 3.5 million more viewers than the 2024 Pinstripe Bowl, which also aired on ABC on a December Saturday.

Penn State-Temple will draw respectable ratings even against Michigan-Oklahoma. The game also has the potential to deliver ratings wins in major Northeast markets, most importantly New York City. Michigan and Oklahoma are brand names, but have little appeal to the Big Apple compared to Penn State.

An appearance on ABC would be a significant milestone for the Temple-Penn State rivalry. Understandably, the lopsided rivalry (Penn State leads 40-4-1) has never had any national appeal. The most exposure the rivalry has received was through syndication on local over-the-air stations in the 1990s and 2000s.

Nonetheless, it is the type of established regional series that many college football purists thirst for in this nationalized age of college football. The two rivals have not met since 2016, and after 2027, the series goes on an indefinite hiatus again.

Temple-Penn State will never be the main event of any ABC upfront presentation, but the game has more value to the network than one may think. It would not only give ABC a rare Penn State game but could also deliver some of the country's most important media markets in the noon slot.