Miami Hurricanes source disputes college football moving to summer

A Miami Hurricanes source disputed the rumor that college football could move to summer. The idea for a shortened summer college football season was originally written about in The Sports Business Journal by Michael Smith.

Michael Smith of the Sports Business Journal reported on Friday that College Football is considering a shortened season that would commence sometime around July 4. The thinking is that during the hot summer months the coronavirus might not be as widespread. A Miami Hurricanes source has no knowledge of the proposal.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald sent out a tweet on Saturday stating“In response to a Sports Business Journal report that colleges have looked into moving the college football season to July, Aug. and Sept., UM said today that has NOT been discussed at their level and their intent is to play their schedule on dates the games are scheduled.”

It is a reach for the shorted summer season to be even considered. Multiple factors would have to be taken into account that include would it really make a difference protecting the players and staffs throughout college football by playing from July through September. Would it even be safe for players to return by June?

If the idea comes to fruition, which at this point seems extremely unlikely, training camps would have to start in early June. One option could be abbreviated training camps for the shortened season. It is extremely unlikely that any college football program would agree to that. Smith came up with a list of multiple questions.

• Would campuses be open and able to properly staff games?
• Would media partners be receptive to such a radical idea? Given the pent-up demand for live events by then, perhaps so?
• Would fans turn out for football in the summer, especially with temperatures in the 90s?
• Would they even be permitted inside the stadium?
• Could athletic departments recoup some of the revenue they’ve lost by staging a summer season?
• How would a season work? It would almost have to be conference games only. Teams could start with a June mini-camp, July training camp and eight or nine games in August and September with no postseason.

Courtesy of Sports Business Journal

The above are all rhetorical questions at this point. With the potential loss of revenue, colleges, conferences and the NCAA all have to currently look at potential alternative plans. The Miami Hurricanes football team would have less competition for the disposable income in the summer than the fall.

There is no guarantee if and when Major League Baseball and the NFL will resume play. If they both return, the Miami football team would have to only contend with the Marlins for the ticket dollar against their traditional competition of some fans deciding to see the Dolphins and later in the season the Heat or the Panthers.

There is also the question of the weather in Miami and other schools across the Southeast and West. The average high temperature in Miami is 88.1 in July, 88.5 in August and 87.0 in September. Adding in the humidity and all of the Miami games would have to be played at night when it is 10 degrees cooler.