David Skolnick

It’s not that state Rep. Tex Fischer doesn’t want to put an end to noon start times for Ohio State University football games, but he knows his bill to restrict them isn’t going anywhere.

Even before Fischer, R-Boardman, formally introduced the bill on May 20, he received a significant amount of publicity — locally, statewide and nationally.

Most of the responses fell into three camps.

One, largely consisting of Buckeyes fans, was supportive.

The second didn’t treat it seriously.

The third was critical, questioning why Fischer wasted his time with this bill when there are far more-pressing issues to tackle. Fischer agrees there are important issues, and he is addressing them.

Fischer told me: “The likelihood of this advancing is virtually none. But hopefully pressure will change the minds of people who schedule the start times. I’m under no illusions it will go anywhere, but it shows that the fan base is sick and tired of these noon games.”

The day after the bill was introduced, it was referred to the House General Government Committee, where it will almost certainly sit and sit.

Fischer said the bill took him about 15 minutes to write and it’s not a serious legislative effort.

The twice-introduced bill to rename Mosquito Lake State Park after President Donald Trump wasn’t a joke to ex-state Rep. Mike Loychik, R-Bazetta, who sponsored them. But neither bill ever received a hearing in the Ohio House.

Not that Ohio State football kickoff times are a joke to Fischer. But he said it is designed to put some pressure on Fox to stop putting the Buckeyes on its “Big Noon Saturday” game.

Fischer said he was “angry,” “upset,” “bothered,” and a few other feelings about Fox’s decisions.

The bill would permit the state attorney general to impose $10 million fines for any state university ranked in the top 10 to play another top 10 team before 3:30 p.m.

The exception is if the game is a “college football tradition,” such as Ohio State-Michigan, which always starts at noon. Fischer’s bill describes that as “a game between the teams of two institutions whose football teams have competed against each other at least 50 times and the start times has been the same for at least 95% of those games.”

The fine would be issued to either the host team’s football athletic conference — the Big Ten for Ohio State — or the TV network broadcasting or streaming the game — typically Fox — whichever party scheduled the earlier start time.

The bill demands games, which must be played in Ohio, between a state university in the Football Bowl Subdivision that is ranked in the Top 10 by the Associated Press Poll or its successor against another team also in the top 10 cannot start any earlier than 3:30 p.m.

The bill is designed to impact Ohio State games on Fox though the University of Cincinnati was ranked in the Top 10 as recently as 2021.

The Buckeyes, the 2024 national champions, played seven games at noon last season, including the final six to end the regular season, which upset a number of fans. Under Fischer’s bill, only one of those was a home game against another top 10 team — Indiana University on Nov. 23.

So even if by some miracle this bill became a law, its impact likely would be minimal.

For Fischer, the final straw is Ohio State opens this season against Texas at Ohio Stadium on Aug. 30. The game will be on Fox and is expected to start at noon.

“All these marquee matchups end up at noon because Fox wants to milk them for ratings and money,” he said. “They put Ohio State games on at noon to get good ratings. Ohio State draws ratings whether it’s day or night. Ohio State has arguably the biggest fan base in the country.”

Our conversation on this issue was interesting as I have no interest in college football so Fischer had to explain to me why he believes games that start at noon are bad when many pro games start at 1 p.m.

He said: “As fans, we’re fed up to have these games start at noon. It’s not good for businesses around the stadium to have people there at noon rather than at night. Evening games create a better atmosphere and create more revenue.”

David Skolnick covers politics for The Vindicator and the Tribune Chronicle.