Opinion: OHSAA got it right

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

It was a week ago today when the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s Board of Directors voted to return to the previous playoff format used in football – games on Friday and Saturday nights.

It was the right move.

Before I explain why, let me disclose that I’m a member of OHSAA’s Media Advisory Committee, an unpaid group of 30 media members from all over Ohio that meets once a year in Columbus to share our thoughts, concerns and ideas with OHSAA officials. While we don’t have the power to vote on anything, sometimes our thoughts are taken into consideration, other times they’re not. Invidiually, sometimes I agree with things the OHSAA does and sometimes I don’t.

Last season, all playoff games, except for the state title games were played on Friday nights. The switch was made at the urging of the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association. The group pushed for the change in time for the 2016 season, but it was denied by the OHSAA. Last year the vote changed, paving the way for the new format.

Why the sudden reversal for the upcoming season? OHSAA Director of Communications Tim Stried chalked it up to attendance, i.e. revenue. Playoff ticket sales were down by a substantial number – more than 34,000, dropping to about 421,000 in 2017. Like it or not, money talks.

“If it had been flat or gone up, we would have kept everything on Fridays,” Stried said.

“Some parts of the state liked staying away from Saturdays for playoff games, but we also received quite a bit of feedback, mainly from the smaller schools, that they hoped we would return to having games on Saturdays too, so their communities could see two games per weekend instead of one,” Beau Rugg, OHSAA Director of Officiating and Sports Management said last week.

In a sense, the change to all Friday playoff games backfired. Fans didn’t have the option to follow their favorite team one night, and watch a team they didn’t normally get to see the other night.

I understand why many coaches like the idea of Friday night playoff games. After all, the majority of high school football games are played on Friday night, and I don’t think I’m wrong when I say a lot of coaches are creatures of habit. They like to keep practices, film sessions and other prep time the same each week. But when OHSAA noticed attendance was down so much last year, you knew a change was coming, pronto.

With the one year experiment in the books, Division I, II, III and VI playoff games will be played on Friday nights, while Division IV, V and VII games will be played on Saturday nights. All playoff games will begin at 7 p.m., which is different that previous years, when Friday night games began at 7:30 p.m. That seemed to make sense, to allow fans to get off from work and grab a bit to eat before going to watch a game.

Looking back to last year, one of the arguments used to sway the Board of Directors to vote for all-Friday playoff games was declining attendance at Saturday games, due in part to Ohio State University night football games.

I never bought that argument, simply because the Buckeyes don’t play all night games in November. While this may be an apples to oranges comparison, no one has mentioned a decline in OHSAA tournament basketball due to college basketball, which can be found any night on various television channels during the season.

Another argument that I heard from all Friday supporters was fact that more stadiums would be available for playoff games. That didn’t make sense. To me, it seemed more problems could arise. Take Delphos Jefferson and Delphos St. John’s for example – two teams that share a stadium. What if both had qualified for the regional quarterfinals and were scheduled to play at home the same night? Either one would have had to play at the opposing team’s site, find a neutral site or play on Saturday. They wouldn’t be the only ones in the same boat.

It seems like it’s hard enough for OHSAA to find viable playoff sites. It’s not nearly the moneymaker that many people think it is, and fewer schools are willing to serve as a neutral site for the games. Cramming all games on Friday nights wouldn’t seem to be a big help, especially if a potential host site’s team was still in the playoffs.

The media was affected by the change to all Friday night games as well. With all games one night, many newspapers and radio stations were forced to choose one school over another. I bring this up because fans want game stories and radio broadcasts, and when they don’t get them, they let us hear about it, which is understandable. Plus, contrary to popular belief, media outlets (especially in smaller markets) don’t have an army of people to send to games.

Back to declining attendance – I have a theory on that. Number one is the cost of tickets, which are higher in the postseason and seem to get higher as teams win their games.

Number two is fewer fans showing up to mismatches at the regional quarterfinal and perhaps regional semifinal level. The playoffs have expanded and evolved over the years.

When the postseason began in 1972, there were three divisions – Class AAA, AA and A, and only the top team from each region qualified for the playoffs. Now, there are seven divisions, including what many consider to be a watered down Division VII, and eight teams from each region qualify to play in Week 11.

Another factor that can’t be overlooked is the fact that fewer kids seem to be playing football, but that’s a discussion for a different time.

In the end, I believe we’ll see attendance go up this November, as fans are able to take in more games if they choose. Exactly how much it goes up remains to be seen, but I can’t help but think a return to the previous format will help.

If you have any thoughts on this (agree or disagree), or perhaps a different viewpoint, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com.