Is Fox Trying to Compete with College GameDay Crazy Enough to Work?

Some ideas are just crazy enough to work. Others are just plain crazy. Fox assembling a “dream team” to launch a challenge against ESPN’s College GameDay is certainly bold.

Fox has lined up Urban Meyer, Rob Stone, Reggie Bush, Brady Quinn, and Matt Leinart, per The New York Post. The fivesome could be put on television at 11 a.m. Saturdays to preview the college football action of the day, up against one of the most venerable and successful sports programs of the last 25 years.

Questions remain.

Why? Who is this for? Does it have any chance of succeeding?

I certainly don’t have all the answers. But the easiest one is definitely “why.” Because it’s football and the appetite for football-related content is insatiable. GameDay has gone unchallenged for so long that no one truly knows how it would do against a meaningful, serious competitor.

It’s only logical for Fox to try something different, structurally. Trying to out-GameDay the original would be a suicide mission. So perhaps the burgeoning project would do well to follow the script of the network’s NFL pregame show.

Specifically, leveraging the premiere noon game into better lead-up ratings. Tuning into ESPN on Saturday morning is habitual behavior, but so too is putting the channel to where it needs to be come kickoff.

In the past, ESPN’s been so confident in GameDay‘s position that it’s created SEC Nation to run against it. The idea there is a conference focus. People who care very much about their game or rival’s game may be inclined to seek more local programming. The same idea drives Big Ten Network’s Saturday morning fare.

Knowing what we know now, consider me quite skeptical any show can come along and ding the king. That is an extremely lofty goal. If success is defined as doing better in the 11-12 a.m. window than last year, that’s one thing. And putting the show on network will give it at least a fighting chance.

Per Marchand’s report, most of the episodes would take place in a Los Angeles studio, with on-site visits reserved for big matchups. One would guess that includes Ohio State-Michigan.

If seen through, the project would cut into ESPN’s percentage. How much would be deemed a success?

On paper, this seems like a lofty goal. Then again, sometimes people need to try things to see if they work. I have a hard time imagining huge amounts of viewers making the switch, no matter how good Urban Meyer is on television.