There’s a rhythm to school soccer Saturdays within the Midwest. A cadence of espresso, cool air, and the sluggish construct towards kickoff. However for some in Ohio, that rhythm feels rushed—truncated by midday begins that go away little time for tailgates, traditions, or the total breath of sport day. Now, one state lawmaker desires to alter that. Consultant Tex Fischer has launched a invoice that might ban most early kickoffs for Ohio’s state universities, with one notable exception: The Recreation. Ohio State vs. Michigan, in all its noon-soaked historical past, would stay untouched. As a result of some traditions, it appears, are too sacred to maneuver.
Defending the Afternoon: A Invoice Rooted in Routine
The proposed laws reads like a schedule with intent. Underneath Consultant Fischer’s invoice, school soccer video games hosted by Ohio’s state universities wouldn’t start earlier than 3:30 p.m.—except they qualify below a slim set of exemptions. The purpose? To protect the fuller expertise of sport day, to grant followers time to assemble, have fun, and descend upon stadiums with out speeding by the morning.
There’s a rhythm to school soccer Saturdays within the Midwest. A cadence of espresso, cool air, and the sluggish construct towards kickoff. However for some in Ohio, that rhythm feels rushed—truncated by midday begins that go away little time for tailgates, traditions, or the total breath of sport day. Now, one state lawmaker desires to alter that. Consultant Tex Fischer has launched a invoice that might ban most early kickoffs for Ohio’s state universities, with one notable exception: The Recreation. Ohio State vs. Michigan, in all its noon-soaked historical past, would stay untouched. As a result of some traditions, it appears, are too sacred to maneuver.
Rep. @texfischer is out with a invoice designed to curtail the Massive Ten from scheduling Ohio State soccer video games at midday.
The invoice consists of an exception that enables the Michigan sport to kick off in its conventional midday slot.
Buckeyes have been in heavy midday rotation because of Fox. pic.twitter.com/LHKSxgEOUI
— The Rooster (@rooster_ohio) Could 15, 2025
The Midday That Stands Alone: Custom Preserved for The Recreation
School soccer doesn’t run on logic—it runs on lore. And nowhere is that extra true than within the annual showdown between Ohio State and Michigan. For many years, the rivalry has kicked off at excessive midday on the ultimate Saturday of November, carving its personal house into the game’s calendar and its psyche.
The proposed invoice acknowledges this. Carved into its language is an exemption that protects any “school soccer custom” outlined by longevity and consistency. The Ohio State-Michigan sport, performed greater than 100 instances with the overwhelming majority of these video games starting at midday, simply qualifies.
November 20, 1999
#10 Michigan vs. Ohio State pic.twitter.com/qTmlYGmyRD— Random Michigan Play Each Day (@Michplay_a_day) April 18, 2025
In a time when convention realignments and media contracts have reshaped the faculty soccer panorama, Fischer’s invoice takes care to not tamper with this particular custom. For followers and alumni, that begin time has grow to be synonymous with anticipation—a second when the frost nonetheless clings to the grass and the stakes really feel impossibly excessive earlier than lunch.
In preserving that midday kickoff, the invoice concedes that not all early video games are created equal. Some belong to tv. However some, like The Recreation, belong to historical past.
Fox, Funding, and the Followers Left Ready
The center of the invoice could also be poetic, however its implications are tangled in coverage, cash, and media.
Fox Sports activities’ “Massive Midday Saturday” has grow to be a signature platform, rewarding the community with large viewership by showcasing high groups within the early window. For Ohio State, this has meant prominence—but in addition repetition. Midday after midday, week after week. What’s gained in viewers might come at the price of environment.
Nonetheless, these tv contracts assist fund the very packages that take the sector. Ohio State and its Massive Ten friends rake in thousands and thousands yearly, bolstered partially by Fox’s dedication to the midday slot. It’s unlikely {that a} regulation—regardless of how symbolic—will outweigh the monetary incentives of the present system.
And but, Fischer’s invoice joins a rising refrain of legislative efforts geared toward defending school soccer’s pageantry. It comes simply months after a invoice was launched to ban flag-planting—born from the emotional aftermath of Michigan’s 2024 win at Ohio Stadium.
These are greater than political gestures. They’re cultural alerts. An insistence, from lawmakers and followers alike, that whereas the game might evolve, the soul of it—rooted in ritual, rivalry, and rhythm—should endure.
