The CW will not air a Week Zero game this year, but it did not have to be that way.
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Despite entering its third year as a college football broadcaster, The CW will once again not air a Week Zero game. The other two years had valid excuses as ESPN, Fox, and CBS had the rights agreements for the limited inventory. However, this year, the network squandered a golden opportunity to take center stage. The Saul Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight at Allegiant Stadium forced UNLV-Idaho State out of its original September 13th date and onto the Week Zero schedule. The game was not part of the Mountain West's primary slates on the CBS and Fox family of networks, leaving it without a national broadcaster, even in Week Zero.
Instead of The CW, the Mountain West Network will stream the game nationally while the Silver State Sports Network will air the game regionally on linear TV. The CW's lack of initiative is mind-boggling. The only programming commitment has nationally is a Professional Bull Riding event at 8 PM ET. Programming for the rest of the day is at the discretion of local affiliates.
Not only could The CW have aired a standalone game after the PBR event at either 10:30 PM or 11 PM ET, the UNLV-Idaho State game could have drawn some desperately needed attention to their newly acquired PBR telecasts. Last week's debut on August 9th struggled in viewership, netting an average of 253,000 viewers. The UNLV-Idaho State game would have created a programming block that would have drawn more viewers to the back end of the PBR event, while also keeping the attention of bull riding fans.
Using non-marquee events as lead-out programming does wonders for their ratings. One can look no further than NBC. In 2022, the network aired a primetime USFL game at 7:30 PM ET as a lead-out to the Preakness Stakes horse race, and the following year, they aired another USFL game at the exact same time as a lead-out to the Kentucky Derby. The results were staggering.
The 2022 Preakness Stakes lead-out, featuring the Michigan Panthers and Birmingham Stallions, was the second-most viewed regular-season game of that season, with 1.2 million viewers, just behind the season opener and outdrawing both division championship games. The 2023 Kentucky Derby lead-out did even better. 2.06 million fans watched the Michigan Panthers play the Memphis Showboats, outdrawing both the 2022 and 2023 USFL Championship games, and overtaking the previous year's Preakness Stakes lead-out as the second-most-watched USFL game ever. Surely, someone at The CW had to know of NBC's strategy.
While the Idaho State-UNLV game lacks the luster of other games on the Week Zero slate, The CW has still had decent viewership for games featuring FCS schools. The four FCS games with ratings available on SportsMediaWatch.com had an average viewership of around 460,000 viewers. Idaho State's 2024 game against Washington State had 381,000 viewers, more than four games The CW aired that year, including a clash between 10-3 Syracuse and 6-7 California. That Idaho State-Oregon State game would not have been a standalone game like the UNLV game.
The CW could have easily sublicensed Idaho State-UNLV at a low cost, given Fox and CBS passed on it. The network would have easily profited in ad revenue. It is much easier to sell advertisement space for a college football game than a syndicated rerun of a sitcom. A conflict of interest with the PAC-12 may have surfaced, but the PAC-12 is not in a position to make any more enemies, especially when they have yet to solidify the rest of its media partners for 2026 and beyond.
The CW is progressing as a college football broadcaster but must take advantage of opportunities to take center stage like Week Zero. A 5-6 hour programming block would have given the network an immense promotional boost leading into week one. Instead, The CW will have no momentum entering a crowded Week One slate.
