Expanded CFP – As the College Football Playoff could grow and add more postseason games, the Heisman Trophy ceremony’s traditional December spotlight is under pressure. Eric Crouch warned that players might simply accept the honor remotely, while Heisman Trophy Trust CEO Jef
The fear doesn’t start with a date on a calendar. It starts with a player looking at his schedule and deciding he can’t make it.
Eric Crouch. who won the Heisman Trophy in 2001. put the concern bluntly when Ben Portnoy of Sports Business Journal examined what an expanded College Football Playoff could do to the traditional December ceremony. “I mean, it’s the Heisman Trophy,” Crouch said. “It’s obviously one of the most sought after awards in all of sports. It’s very prestigious. It’s been held in a high regard and the standard’s been set high and none of us want to see that go away. . . .”.
Then came the worry that sounds small until you realize what it would mean for the event itself: “The fear is that the players will say, ‘Oh, I can’t make it. I’m just going to accept my award in the living room of my apartment.’ We don’t want that.”
Crouch’s warning lands at a time when the Heisman ceremony is already moving, just not because of the CFP. Jeff Price, CEO of the Heisman Trophy Trust, told Portnoy the annual ceremony will expand to Friday night. That Friday will feature Heisman Live, described as a fireside chat involving the four finalists. On Saturday night. the award show is set to add a red-carpet segment and a push to make the production look and feel “like the Oscars for college football.”.
Price also acknowledged the symbolism of New York. “The idea of bringing the four finalists together and whether that’s in New York or in another location. is certainly something that we can work through. ” he said. “But for 90 years. that visit to New York and the ability to bring the winners together has made the Heisman what it is today.”.
What the ceremony ultimately becomes could hinge on what the College Football Playoff decides to do. The timing and the number of postseason games matter more than any tradition. and the people closest to the numbers know it. As the groundwork shifts. Price’s approach suggests the Heisman is trying to preserve the moment by building a bigger weekend around the finalists.
But viewers are drawn to football’s highest-stakes weeks in a way award programming can’t easily match. Last year, the Heisman Trophy ceremony attracted 4.3 million viewers, the highest average audience since 2012. The eleven 2025 CFP games averaged 16.3 million viewers. Those figures turn the debate into a straightforward business reality: postseason games are better for the bottom line than the ceremony that hands out the ultimate postseason award.
The result is a tense trade-off between what the Heisman has protected for decades and what the expanded CFP would monetize during the same stretch. If players feel pulled toward games and time zones rather than New York and the lights. the risk Crouch described—accepting the award at home—moves from fear to possibility.
The numbers may not just influence programming. They may decide whether the Heisman still feels like a single shared Saturday-night moment, or something more scattered as the postseason grows.
Heisman Trophy College Football Playoff CFP expansion Eric Crouch Jeff Price Heisman Live viewership New York ceremony