How FOX broadcasting college games on Fridays could affect Texas high school football

Texas high school football is tradition. It’s a culture. It’s a completely different beast in terms of magnitude, level of play and most importantly of all – the biggest and best games occur under the Friday Night Lights.

However, things may be changed forever with the announcement that FOX will broadcast a college football game in a primetime slot on Friday night weekly this upcoming season, as reported by The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand.

The Friday night slot opened up after the network didn’t renew rights to broadcast WWE on Friday nights.

The idea has been brewing for some time, and it’s certainly not one that high school coaches are fond of. When Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said that the conference would look into playing more games on Friday last August, Westlake coach Tony Salazar told the Statesman’s Colby Gordon that college programs should “stay out of the domain of high school athletics.”

More: Battle for Friday night’s lights: Prep coaches aren’t fans of Big 12 commissioner’s plan

The conferences that will be playing these games include the Big Ten, Big 12 and Mountain West, all leagues that FOX already has broadcast rights with.

How could college football Fridays affect high school football?

The decision to have games on Friday could impact recruiting in a heavy way.

Area coaches told the Statesman last August that high school recruits could be limited in the number of college games they could attend for recruiting visits, and they wouldn’t be seen and scouted on Fridays in person as much by college coaches.

Regardless, there are plenty on social media that were not happy with the decision. Whether or not it will be a permanent fixture will depend on how successful it is this coming season.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: FOX to broadcast college football weekly on Friday nights in 2024