Thursday Night Football: NFL Approved Teams To Play Two Games On Short Weeks

Thursday Night Football’s flexible schedule was considered by NFL owners. The idea was not put to a vote; instead, the rules were altered to let teams play on two short weeks during the season.

Thursday Night Football: NFL Approved Teams To Play Two Games On Short Weeks

This will enable a more accurate inventory of clubs for games later in the season.

“We’re interested in making sure that we get exposure for all of our clubs. We also believe that these national windows are for clubs that are playing well,” Brian Rolapp, the NFL’s executive vice president/chief media and business officer, said. “We want to put the best teams in the best windows.”

The league had proposed late-season flexing of Thursday night games after Amazon was left with some not-so-prime-time games late last season.

The pushback began immediately.

“We looked at a number of factors before we even got to today to bring the proposal to ownership,” Hans Schroeder, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NFL Media, said. “I think there was a lot of interest in looking at it, but obviously when you’re talking about moving a game from Sunday to Thursday, there are a lot of considerations on the fan side, especially on that type of move and how do you do that in an appropriate way. How do we think about longer notice periods so we give fans more time to plan? Those types of things. So, I think there was a lot of interest in the room. There was a lot of challenge to make sure we’re thinking through this thoroughly and have the best way to do this if we’re going to do it, and I think that’s the work we’ve got to do going forward is to come back and figure out what is that right model for potential Thursday night flex.”

For a proposal to pass, it must receive 75 per cent of the vote, meaning that 24 of the NFL’s 32 owners must vote in favour of the proposal. Even though it goes against the interests of coaches, players, and fans, it is fair to assume that the owners will approve of the idea given the NFL’s dedication to making money.

Instead, the NFL decided to enable every club to play over two short weeks in an effort to increase the number of strong teams available for late-season Thursday night games. The Cowboys achieved it in 2022, playing their customary Thanksgiving Day game and then another game on December 29 after a game on December 24.

The Thursday schedule will be set when the schedule is released in May, but late in the season, Thursdays should feature the teams with the highest TV ratings. The Texans are among the clubs that most likely won’t play any prime-time games this season, including Thursday nights.

So to conclude, Clubs voted to alter the current restriction of one Thursday night game per team each season. Now, teams are limited to two short-week games every season. It implies that certain teams will appear on TNF twice in a single season while other teams will not.

The league views this as a benefit rather than seeing the TNF appearances as a burden that forces coaches to forego actual practises in the days leading up to those games and disadvantages visiting teams more.

 

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