Every year since 2022, the Missouri Tigers have opted to move their season opener from Saturday to Thursday. The reasoning behind the switch involves convenience for fans, and also a bit of competitive edge.

“There’s a lot of different things that play into that decision,” head coach Eli Drinkwitz said in a press conference April 29.

The first part takes the plans of fans into consideration. Week 1 of the season falls on Labor Day weekend each year, so moving the game to Thursday allows fans to start the extended weekend off work with a trip to Faurot Field.

Additionally, the Lake of the Ozarks (a popular destination for Labor Day weekend vacations) is just under 100 miles southwest of Columbia. Having the game at the start of the weekend instead of in the middle of it, makes for a more convenient schedule for fans planning to travel.

“We want to provide them (the fans) the opportunity to do everything that they want the last weekend of the the lake season,” Drinkwitz said. “We want them to be able to do that, but we also want to be able be able to support us, play on Thursday night.”

Taking people’s Labor Day weekend plans into consideration has been an effective move for the program for attendance for the Week 1 game. Attendance for Missouri’s Week 1 game has steadily increased each year since making the change to instead open the season on Thursday.

Last year’s sellout crowd to open the season against Murray State marked the sixth-highest attended home opener in program history.