The NFL has not yet officially announced its schedule release date — as it had in previous years as the big day neared — and there’s apparently a good reason for that, as fans anticipate the unveiling of the dates and times for games in the 2023 season. Per NBC Sports’ Peter King, the schedule may not be finished in time to release it this Thursday, May 11, which had reportedly been the set date.
The marquee games for the league — opening weekend prime-time games, Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, the Sunday night game on Christmas Eve, and the Monday tripleheader on Christmas — are not yet finalized. The Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson situations may have also altered the primetime slate, as the Rodgers trade to the New York Jets and Jackson signing his contract extension with the Baltimore Ravens were recently set in stone. Both teams are slated for multiple primetime contests.
Schedule-makers are reportedly to meet with commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday.
The “Thursday Night Football” slate may also look different this year, as the league passed a resolution where teams could play two Thursday night games a season. That cuts down on the likelihood of “bad” Thursday night matchups. The NFL would prefer to strengthen its streaming schedule for its newest broadcast partner, and more eyeballs would go to Amazon (the broadcaster of TNF) with better teams playing on that date.
Another caveat of the new television deal revolves around the Sunday afternoon slate. Fox no longer has contractual obligations for the NFC road team and neither does CBS with the AFC — leaving more games available for the doubleheader windows. “Monday Night Football” also changes, going from one doubleheader a season to three.
The delay in the league announcing the schedule unveiling may be television related, which the NFL hopes to get finalized in the coming days. The schedule release may still be Thursday, but the league is hesitant to set it as the official date at this time.
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Author: Jeff Kerr
May 8, 2023 | 10:58 am
