The Saturday Column With No Name: The Cody Campbell Tweet That Rocked College Sports & Media, College Football Ratings “Skyrocket”, Why Does MLB Hate Baseball

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A 6PM start for Texas Tech and Houston means we get to crank out another Saturday Column With No Name. If you come up with a great name, let us know in the comments. Alright, let’s get to it. We’ll see you after the game tonight for Raiderland Rewind Presented by Live Life Well Clinic in Lubbock. About 30 minutes after the Red Raiders and Cougars wrap-up, we’ll be taking your questions and thoughts LIVE on X, YouTube, Facebook. See y’all then!

1. Early Saturday, Texas Tech Board of Regents Chairman Cody Campbell sent out a tweet that rocked the college sports world, and maybe more importantly national media. Here ya go:
   https://x.com/CodyC64/status/1974468556344426868
   
   “The TV Networks (specifically Fox and ABC) are refusing to run this ad for@SavingCollSprts today during the games. No good reason given as to why – just ignoring us or telling us to contact their attorneys. The General Council for one major network told me it was a “business decision”. This was AFTER we’d sent them a large wire to pay for the ads! Why would the networks want to silence a legitimate debate around an issue that affects hundreds of thousands of kids and is existentially threatening to women’s sports and Olympic sports? What is the “business reason” that overrides the benefit and enjoyment that college sports provide to tens of millions of Americans? What are they hiding?? If there was ever a question that money, control, and greed are being prioritized over student athletes, fans, and communities…Here you go!! We all knew that the current situation in college sports seemed very slimy and was driven by people who couldn’t care less about the common good…. But we had no idea how bad it truly is!! It’s become obvious…We have to drain the swamp that College Sports have become!! This fight isn’t about me, and it certainly isn’t about TV ads – it’s much bigger. It’s about doing what is right and necessary to save a great American institution. I promise that I won’t stop fighting until we are successful in solving this problem, and I know I can count on many of you to join me!”
   
   https://frontofficesports.com/cody-campbell-fox-abc-ads-pulled/
   
   Campbell telling the world that the major networks won’t air an ad for his plan to “save college sports” is quite interesting. Love him or not, Campbell is a disruptor and disruptors catch flack. The question is who told the networks not to air the commercial. When that comes out, we’re gonna have a heck of a story. Who is really afraid of what Campbell is trying to do in college sports? The “blue bloods”? The Big 10 and SEC? Or maybe, the networks are scared of programs like Texas Tech being in the mix all of a sudden? We’ll find out. And soon. They networks might by “ink by the barrel”, but Campbell and friends are more than capable of going toe-to-to financially with them. Heck, Campbell is probably more liquid right now than Disney. . . So, pay attention. This will be a major story over the next few days.
2. Major League Baseball had no games Friday night in prime-time for folks to enjoy. On a night with sparse sports options. Great job MLB. Why does MLB hate baseball?
3. I’m old enough to remember when they said N.I.L. and the Transfer Portal would kill college football and college sports. Fans would leave. No one would watch. I guess America didn’t get the memo. Question of y’all. Are you watching more college football this year? Because ratings are skyrocketing. Even with new ways to measure viewership, ratings are way up. Attendance is up too around CFB the last two to three seasons. So… are you watching more? More interested than ever? Because I was told you’d hate the new world order of college sports with teams like Texas Tech and Vanderbilt able to compete… Here’s a great article on this from Front Office Sports.
   
   OK. There’s some quick thoughts. Fire away in the comments and we’ll see you on Raiderland Rewind tonight after Texas Tech and UH finish up.
   
   Hyatt