Joe Lucia: I don’t get it. I don’t understand why people get so wound up with the placement of games that won’t happen for another four months. You already know which teams are playing each other. How silly is it to get so deeply involved in primetime matchups and weekly schedules months in advance when teams can go from great to awful in an instant?
Last season, the Sunday Night opener was between a pair of teams who didn’t make the playoffs (Cowboys and Giants), and each of the two Monday games featured a team that was one of the five worst in the entire NFL. Maybe I’m just weird, but I couldn’t care less about the way the schedule unfolds months in advance – hell, sometimes I can’t even tell you who the Ravens are playing *days* in advance, let alone months.
Brad Gagnon: I get the hate regarding the circus, but when you have something you can sell to your customers, why limit your product? The league knows fans eat this up. Hell, it crashes major sports websites every year. I have no problem with the league using the schedule release as another platform for NFL Network in prime time. Control the conversation, even during the NBA and NHL playoffs and the first month of the MLB season. They’re winning, but it does suck for those who have common sense and realize that the release is pretty close to meaningless. Twitter feeds are destroyed when much more meaningful events should probably take precedent. But that’s not the NFL’s fault.
Steve Lepore: I must say, I’m impressed with what CBS got for their Thursday Night package. It’s absolutely a step up from what NFL Network has had in years past, and it doesn’t hurt any of the league’s Sunday packages. Monday Night Football is still Monday Night Football, but ESPN having a playoff game at least levels the playing field a bit.
Ken Fang: I’m actually surprised CBS’s Thursday Night schedule wasn’t stronger. It’s better than previous TNF schedules, but I was thinking that CBS would get a few more blockbuster games. Doing rivalries will help the ratings and having the Patriots in primetime will bring CBS good numbers. The Sunday Night Football schedule is very strong on paper and it will be interesting to see which games get flexed during the season.
As for the flex, I’m interested to see how it will work this season. The NFL knows the 4:25 p.m. ET window gets more viewers than SNF in primetime so CBS and Fox getting crossover games to make the time slot more attractive will only add to the numbers in late afternoon.
Matt Yoder: Yes, the fact that we get so worked up about when games are scheduled seems a bit absurd, but we’re also a country that tunes in by the millions for the Pro Bowl. Nothing will ever surprise me with our NFL obsession.
As far as the actual construction of the TV schedules, 2014 will mark the beginning of a new era. We will watch the NFL like never before this year as the league looks to get more top games in front of larger audiences. Not only does that mean a new Thursday night package on CBS, but the ability to flex games into Sunday Night Football as early as Week 5.
But the most fascinating element is the cross-flexing on Sundays between CBS and Fox. For as long as I’ve been alive, there’s been one NFC network and one AFC network. That’s always the way it worked… until now. Bears-Lions on Thanksgiving Day on CBS? Was the NFL that discouraged with the Bills or Dolphins playing in Detroit on a national holiday? Apparently so. Right now there’s a few cross-network games scheduled (Redskins-49ers on CBS, Bills-Bears on Fox) but the NFL will have the ability to flex more games to fit their late afternoon national window. The dissolution of those traditional broadcast lines will be great for fans around the country as we’re guaranteed to see better games more often. And it’s just another sign of the NFL’s tremendous television power.
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