The Sugar Bowl was postponed to Thursday, Jan. 2 at 4 p.m. ET, following a deadly attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans early Wednesday morning.

Sugar Bowl chief executive Jeff Hundley said he consulted with ESPN and the College Football Playoff, and all parties agreed to postpone the event by 24 hours. But on Wednesday evening, the Sugar Bowl announced it would kick off slightly earlier in the day, at 4 p.m. ET Thursday.

The New Year’s Six matchup was originally planned to kick off at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans at 8:45 p.m. ET  on Wednesday night. The matchup between Notre Dame and Georgia is serving as one of the quarterfinals in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff format.

In a press release, Sugar Bowl officials said that law enforcement resources normally available for the event were preoccupied with the fallout of the attack and that the postponement would help “maintain the typical standards of a major event in the Caesars Superdome.”

“We have full faith and confidence in the governor and the mayor and all the federal, state, and local first responders that they’ve applied to this horrific event, Hundley said in a statement Wednesday. Any time we have an event like the Sugar Bowl, public safety is paramount, and all parties involved agree that could only be achieved with a postponement. Now we will move ahead to take care of the details to make the Sugar Bowl the first-class, fun, and safe event that it has been for over 90 years.”

A long list of officials were involved in the decision, including the Sugar Bowl, local, state, and federal authorities, as well as the CFP, the SEC, Georgia, Notre Dame, and the Caesars Superdome. CFP executive director Rich Clarke specifically thanked ESPN for its “flexibility” in changing the game window.

ESPN will air the game on Thursday, as well as its previously scheduled megacast, the network announced. Instead of the previously scheduled game broadcast on Wednesday night, the network would air an edition of SportsCenter.

“The decision to postpone tonight’s Sugar Bowl was made in the best interest of public safety,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “Lives were tragically lost last night and we are appreciative that public officials and law enforcement agencies continue to work with great diligence to ensure the safety of the New Orleans community.”

For more information on the attack and the NFL’s statement ahead of February’s Super Bowl in New Orleans, read the full story by Front Office Sports reporter Amanda Christovich here.

22.2 million

The TV audience for ESPN’s final Monday Night Football broadcast of the NFL season—Detroit’s 40–34 victory over San Francisco. The Lions played their starters despite the game having an extremely small chance of factoring into their playoff seeding. Unless Vikings-Lions in Week 18 ends in a tie, the result of Monday night’s game won’t matter. 

ESPN said the 22.2 million viewership figure makes Lions-49ers a top-five most-watched MNF game since the network acquired the franchise in 2006.

2024 featured record-breaking contracts across the sports landscape. They ranged from Juan Soto’s jaw-dropping $765 million deal with the Mets to Jayson Tatum’s $315 million payday—which sets him on track to become the NBA’s first billionaire—and Dak Prescott resetting NFL salary standards.

Our FOS Explains series breaks down the biggest athlete contracts of 2024, how they happened, and what they mean for the future. You can watch the full episode on YouTube here.