BYU Football gets another nationally televised game when they take on Hawaii at home in a late game on October 13th.
After a brutal September schedule, BYU Football is back in Provo for an entire month. They’ll play three games in four October weekends, all in the friendly confines of LaVell Edwards Stadium.
And another one of those games now has a time and a network.
BYU announced on Twitter that the game against Hawaii on October 13th will be at 8:15pm MT on ESPN2:
For the Cougars, it will be their third game so far this season on that network, and the fourth overall on an ESPN channel. Adding in primetime matchups on ABC and FOX, that’ll be six of the first seven games this year on a major channel.
BYU’s unexpectedly strong start to the season has helped get games like this on major channels. Had BYU started slowly, matchups such as Hawaii, Northern Illinois, and New Mexico State would have almost certainly been relegated to ESPNU or BYUtv.
There’s still a chance that could happen with the Northern Illinois and New Mexico State games. Both of those games haven’t been given a game time or channel. Neither have the games with Boise State or Utah.
It’s no surprise that the game slots into a later kickoff either. BYU’s night game at Arizona on ESPN drew 1.3 million viewers, good for fifth best on a cable channel. Almost 600,000 viewers tuned into the late game between BYU and Cal on ESPN2.
ESPN knows they’ll get good viewership if they put BYU on one of their channels in the late spot. While the late kick may be difficult for fans going to the game (as well as writers who recap the game), it’s the price of having a good deal with the network.
As long as BYU keeps playing well and drawing eyeballs, they’ll keep finding themselves on national television.