Heisman Trophy ceremony fears being diminished by College Football Playoff expansion - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 05-27-2026, 12:22 AM

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.co...tect-ceremony/

Currently, the Heisman Trophy ceremony airs on ESPN in primetime with no college football competition on the Saturday after the regular college football season is over. But that could change if the College Football Playoff expands to 24 teams and the Heisman Trophy ceremony takes place on the same day as playoff games. “The fear is that the players will say ‘Oh, I can’t make it. I’m just going to accept my award in the living room of my apartment.’ We don’t want that,” says 2001 Heisman winner Eric Crouch. ESPN currently has a “long term” deal to broadcast the Heisman ceremony. Meanwhile, the Heisman ceremony is being revamped to include a Friday night event dubbed “Heisman Live,” “which will include a fireside chat with the four finalists,” reports Sports Business Journal’s Ben Portnoy. “Saturday night will also bring with it a new-look red carpet show leading into the ceremony that ESPN will produce in an effort to create college football’s version of the Oscars or Emmys.” New Heisman CEO Jeff Price adds: “The idea of bringing the four finalists together and whether that’s in New York or in another location, is certainly something that we can work through. But for 90 years, that visit to New York and the ability to bring the winners together has made the Heisman what it is today. We’ve said over the last six months, we very much want to respect tradition, but also drive innovation. We understand that the landscape is changing, but it shouldn’t be to the detriment of some of those iconic aspects of college football like Army-Navy and the Heisman weekend.”

05-27-2026, 12:22 AM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 124,387	Heisman Trophy ceremony fears being diminished by College Football Playoff expansion https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.co...tect-ceremony/ Currently, the Heisman Trophy ceremony airs on ESPN in primetime with no college football competition on the Saturday after the regular college football season is over. But that could change if the College Football Playoff expands to 24 teams and the Heisman Trophy ceremony takes place on the same day as playoff games. “The fear is that the players will say ‘Oh, I can’t make it. I’m just going to accept my award in the living room of my apartment.’ We don’t want that,” says 2001 Heisman winner Eric Crouch. ESPN currently has a “long term” deal to broadcast the Heisman ceremony. Meanwhile, the Heisman ceremony is being revamped to include a Friday night event dubbed “Heisman Live,” “which will include a fireside chat with the four finalists,” reports Sports Business Journal’s Ben Portnoy. “Saturday night will also bring with it a new-look red carpet show leading into the ceremony that ESPN will produce in an effort to create college football’s version of the Oscars or Emmys.” New Heisman CEO Jeff Price adds: “The idea of bringing the four finalists together and whether that’s in New York or in another location, is certainly something that we can work through. But for 90 years, that visit to New York and the ability to bring the winners together has made the Heisman what it is today. We’ve said over the last six months, we very much want to respect tradition, but also drive innovation. We understand that the landscape is changing, but it shouldn’t be to the detriment of some of those iconic aspects of college football like Army-Navy and the Heisman weekend.”