Do All Championship Sporting Events Start Too Late?
Yet while college basketball absorbs the brunt of the outrage over late starts, it is far from the lone offender.
Sports fans were rightfully frustrated by the 8:50 pm ET start time of the NCAA National Championship Game on Monday.
"I know we complain about it every year but WHY are we tipping a Final Four game at 8:49 pm?? It’s Saturday. Give us an afternoon game and an evening game," asked Barstool's Kayce Smith on X.
Yet while college basketball absorbs the brunt of the outrage over late starts, it is far from the lone offender. Championship-clinching games across major leagues routinely stretch deeper into the night than East Coast viewers would prefer.
Monday’s title game concluded at 11:19 pm. By comparison, the College Football Playoff National Championship, also played on a Monday, wrapped up at 11:16 pm. Here were the end times for other championship games this year, via Sports TV News & Updates:
Super Bowl: 10:23 pm
Game 6, Stanley Cup Final: 10:48 pm
Game 7, NBA Finals: 10:49 pm
Game 7, World Series: 12:17 am, with the ninth inning ending at 11:38 pm
These finishes do not trouble night owls like me. And West Coast viewers, like OutKick's Ian Miller, often view them as perfectly timed. Still, we admit, some of these games linger later than necessary.
The Super Bowl, to its credit, has struck something close to a sweet spot. If someone cannot make it to roughly 10:00 to 10:30 pm for a major sporting event, they are not the target audience anyway. As hardcore fans can attest, fandom requires sacrifice.
College basketball, however, has the thinnest excuse. Its games are the shortest. There's no harm in starting the game at 8 pm ET and aiming for a 10:30 ET.
It is also worth noting that Mondays are when Americans tend to feel the most fatigued, still reeling from the back-to-work wake-up call hours prior. If there is any night built for an early bedtime, it is Monday.
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - FEBRUARY 02: A Denver Broncos fan sits with his eyes closed before the Denver Broncos take on the Seattle Seahawks during Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium on February 2, 2014 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
MLB deserves slightly more leeway, even though it was the only league to play a championship game past midnight this year. The pitch clock has already shortened games, and extra innings remain an unavoidable variable.
Still, perhaps the leagues and organizations should consider that not every championship showcase needs to be confined to primetime.
During the NFL season, the highest-rated matchups air during the late afternoon window with a start time of 4:25 pm ET. March Madness has also drawn some of its largest audiences on Sunday afternoons.
The College Football Playoff cannot shift to Sunday because of the NFL. But men’s college basketball could explore a Sunday afternoon slot, like the women’s tournament or The Masters – both of which have succeeded in that window.
Likewise, the NBA, NHL, and MLB could consider staging championship games on Sunday afternoons.
To be clear, this is not a personal plea. I rarely turn in before midnight. However, many of you – apparently – do. And we understand that staying up past 11 pm, still buzzing with adrenaline before an early morning, is a tough ask.