5 Pros and Cons of Thursday Night Games

As you take a look at this year’s schedules, are you contemplating whether to go to the Thursday Night Football Game?

Thursday night college football games are a different breed from Saturday games. Especially when it comes to RV tailgating.

Some things are good. Some things are bad. But Thursday night games aren’t going away. You can only make the best of them.

Making the Most of Thursday Night Tailgates with a RV setup for football tailgating

I definitely have a love-hate relationship with Thursday night football games when they are on my schedule.

Let’s take a look at why.

Pros of Thursday Night College Football Games

These are the good things about your favorite team playing on Thursday nights.

  1. Money Thursday night games usually involves a significant payday for the participating schools.

    The higher ratings help the conferences when it comes time to negotiate the paydays from networks for exclusive deals to broadcast their games.

    The extra exposure doesn’t hurt either, when trying to attract recruits or money from alumni. (Just not money from alumni to the recruits. The NCAA frowns on that. A lot.Until the NIL thing happened. Now fans can pretty much pay players on their favorite teams.)

  2. Exclusive TV coverage of your favorite team on prime-time TV.

    Well, it used to be exclusive but now it is more like near exclusive coverage. There are only a couple of games on and basically one or two notable games.

    So your team will have lots of prime time love from ESPN.

    But now the NFL has jumped in with their own Thursday night games, diluting the Thursday night exclusivity pro.

    Still, you are competing against a much smaller slate of games than you would be on a typical Saturday afternoon.

  3. Unique Atmosphere I’ve never been able to figure it out, but most of the time there is a special excitement to a Thursday night game.

    A special buzz in the air.

    Maybe it is the shortened tailgate time (a con) but the tailgate becomes a sprint. Maybe more liquor than beer? Whatever, the fans are excited.

  4. Time to sit back and watch the other games, without stress. Another benefit of Thursday night games.Free Saturday to Watch Other Games or complete the honey-do list, pick your poison.

    I know I have a long list of maintenance items that I need to address on the RV and the Thursday night game gives me an excellent weekend opportunity to get some RV projects done.

    While watching football. That I don’t have to pay close attention to like I would my own team. Or you know, nap time.

    It’s also a good time to check out some fall RV camping.

    See Also: How To Stream Live Sporting Events in the RV
     
  5. Extended Time Before the Next Game Bad for fans, but good for players and coaches.

    The extra couple of days to recover from the bumps and bruises (or more serious injuries) can be crucial.

    Also, time for the coaching staff to prepare for the next game. Isn’t this why South Carolina loves to start the season with a Thursday night game? To see where the team is after playing another team in actual competition.

    Since GT used to have such a unique offense, teams loved to have those extra couple of days to prepare for us, whether it is due to a Thursday night game or a bye week.
RV tailgating at night

Cons of Thursday Night Football Games

The bad parts of Thursday night college football games. Because it’s not all about the money and notoriety.

  1. Abbreviated Tailgate Time. Most Thursday night games mean a shortened tailgate – most people can’t take Thursday off to spend the day tailgating like they do on a Saturday.

    The lucky ones get a half day of tailgating.

    And most will have to go back to work on Friday, which means they have to reign in the drinking and post-game tailgating.

    We aren’t college kids that can show up to work drunk or hungover. Unfortunately. (Fortunately?)

    In any case, we are missing out on some valuable tailgating time in the name of adult responsibility and work.

    And our schools never seem to discount the game day parking for the shortened tailgate times. Even when many RVers that go to the games won’t bother to bring their RVs.

  2. Fun times with an RV. This should be fun for Thursday night games in AtlantaHarder Travel for Road Games If the Thursday night game is a road game, it is less likely that a large contingent of your fans will be able to make it.

    Just too hard with work and school.

    See Also: Tips for Overnight RV Parking on a Roadtrip

  3. Parking, especially on a city campus like Georgia Tech, can be difficult.

    We don’t have large fields to spread out on, so our tailgate lots are regular parking during the week. When they overlap, there are problems.

    Often, there is a conflict between those that pay for parking as students or staff and those that pay for parking as alumni and fans. We all want the same spots.

    Usually, if you are in a “staff” parking lot, they can use football as an excuse to leave early. But then there are those professors that just don’t like college football and what it does to the school.

    And those guys will make your tailgating life as difficult as possible.

    Doubly so on Thursday afternoons when all you want to do is tailgate in “their” parking lot.

     
  4. Missing Classes by the football team, cheerleaders, and other game day students.

    This means making up tests, homework assignments and other class related work.

    While most professors will work with the players and others, it doesn’t always work.

    Especially for your normal student fans that just want to go watch their friends and classmates play the game.

    I remember my freshman year of college when my professor wouldn’t let me take the weekly quiz early when I wanted to head to a Thursday Night football game. You guessed it, though – I took the zero and enjoyed the game.

  5. Did I mention Friday morning at work? Ugh.

    Double ugh if your team loses.

Coach Rich Rodriguez once called Thursday night games “unnatural” back when he was at West Virginia.

They definitely require a different perspective than a Saturday game, but once in awhile they are kind of fun.

Some times, different is good.

Just don’t go overboard with two or more in a season because well, as fans, we still like our traditional Saturday games.

Do you like Thursday night games for your team? Sound off below!

Making the Most of Thursday Night Football Tailgates with a picture of an RV setup at night plus fans RV tailgating during the day

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