College Football Playoff moves most future semifinals off Dec. 31

The College Football Playoff is moving the dates of future semifinals to ensure the games will be played either on a Saturday or a holiday.

The changes, which will start with the 2018 season, come in response to the television ratings for last year’s games played on Thursday, Dec. 31, dropping 36% from the semifinals played the season before on New Year’s Day.

This season’s semifinals are still set for Saturday, Dec. 31. Next season’s playoff is scheduled to be back on Jan. 1. After 2018, the games initially scheduled to be played on New Year’s Eve, will now be played Saturday, Dec. 29.

The 2019 games will move to Saturday, Dec. 28.