NFL Flexible Sunday night schedule details

[HEAV]

Ron Borges, of the Boston Globe, reports details on the flexible Sunday night NFL television schedule for next season were ironed out last week during a brief league meeting in Orlando, Fla. The owners and networks came up with a system that will begin in Week 10 of the 2006 season because there will be no Sunday night game on Christmas Eve. In 2007 and thereafter, the flexible schedule will be in place from Weeks 11-17 except in years when there is a Christmas conflict. All games will be schedule for the normal 1 and 4 p.m. ET slots, but 12 days before the game teams will be notified their game is being moved to Sunday night. Fox and CBS each will have five ''blocks" per season, meaning they can stop a designated game from being moved to Sunday nights, but only up to a maximum of five times. The Sunday night NBC game will become the big night game of the week. NBC and the NFL have yet to decide whether the Sunday games will begin at 8:15 or 8:30 p.m.

[RMT]

I wonder if teams will be given the opportunity to "block" a game being moved to Sunday night, especially if a team has to turn around and play a Saturday game ... and both games are on the road.

[Sassy]

I hate this travel-wise.

[Goobzilla]

I like the flexible scheduling in theory, but it could be a hardship on the fans attending. At least they have to make the choice almost 2 weeks ahead of time.

[RMT]

Originally Posted by Goobzilla

I like the flexible scheduling in theory, but it could be a hardship on the fans attending. At least they have to make the choice almost 2 weeks ahead of time.

That's my greatest frustration with this type of change. I only live 300 miles from Denver, but getting home at 4 AM and going to work the next day is worse for me than going to an afternoon game and getting home at midnight.

And I know some fans drive a lot farther than 300 miles.

[Sassy]

Originally Posted by Goobzilla

I like the flexible scheduling in theory, but it could be a hardship on the fans attending. At least they have to make the choice almost 2 weeks ahead of time.

How about if you get your flights (or it's a 12 hour drive for me) in April (We did last year when the schedule came out)...you can't change your flights unless you pay $100 rebooking fee.
So you'd have to plan an extra day whether you needed to or not. Some of us like to plan more than two weeks in advance!

[RMT]

Originally Posted by Sassy

How about if you get your flights in April (We did last year when the schedule came out)...you can't change your flights unless you pay $100 rebooking fee.
So you'd have to plan an extra day whether you needed to or not.

Excellent point ... as much additional revenue the NFL will get from moving high-profile teams to the Sunday night slot, fans attending the game should be able to submit receipts for reimbursement if their schedules have to be changed as a result of a game being moved to Sunday night.

[Sassy]

Originally Posted by RMT

Excellent point ... as much additional revenue the NFL will get from moving high-profile teams to the Sunday night slot, fans attending the game should be able to submit receipts for reimbursement if their schedules have to be changed as a result of a game being moved to Sunday night.

...and if your hotel happened to be booked that extra night...it would be a pain in the butt to have to move somewhere else...

Inconvienient for the fans...and I'm guessing the team as well.

[RMT]

Originally Posted by Sassy

...and if your hotel happened to be booked that extra night...it would be a pain in the butt to have to move somewhere else...

Inconvienient for the fans...and I'm guessing the team as well.

What would be better is if the NFL scheduled TWO games for Sunday night and moved one BACK to afternoon.

[Sassy]

Originally Posted by RMT

What would be better is if the NFL scheduled TWO games for Sunday night and moved one BACK to afternoon.

Of course...what do we know...we're ONLY FANS....

[RMT]

Originally Posted by Sassy

Of course...what do we know...we're ONLY FANS....

Fans are going to have to speak up and make suggestions to both their team and the NFL or we'll be screwed (most likely will happen anyway), but in the past when I've made suggestions to the Broncos - every once in a while they took it to heart and changes were made at subsequent games. The last thing the teams want to do is alienate their fan base, so they'll need to be liasons between fans and the league.

[Kaylore]

It makes sense to some degree. I like that there is a way around having to watch Brett Favre lose six times a season. I guess for fans, you just have to hope that your team doesn't suck and that the one you're going to play doesn't suck either by the time you play.

[SportinOne]

Thank you, NFL. I'm so sick of watching crap games at the end of the year that mean nothing. All the good games get blended in with the masses on Sundays and it's hard to watch just one. This way most of the crap games will be played together and then you flip between the one or two that are actually meaningful instead of having to balance up to 5 of them. Then when the prime time game rolls around you are in for something great. I LOVE THIS. NO MORE Falcons vs. Jets, no more Texans vs. anybody, no more Seahawks vs. Eagles. I take those matchups from this past year, any of those teams but the texans could be good next year.

This is great, i'm getting excited about NFL Football, and not just Denver Bronco Football, again.

[RMT]

Originally Posted by TheChamp

Thank you, NFL. I'm so sick of watching crap games at the end of the year that mean nothing. All the good games get blended in with the masses on Sundays and it's hard to watch just one. This way most of the crap games will be played together and then you flip between the one or two that are actually meaningful instead of having to balance up to 5 of them. Then when the prime time game rolls around you are in for something great. I LOVE THIS. NO MORE Falcons vs. Jets, no more Texans vs. anybody, no more Seahawks vs. Eagles. I take those matchups from this past year, any of those teams but the texans could be good next year.

This is great, i'm getting excited about NFL Football, and not just Denver Bronco Football, again.

I agree, however, this is going to be a MAJOR inconvenience to a lot of fans attending the games that are moved. I'm curious has to how these fans will be best accommodated for having to make a lot of changes to travel plans, especially those having to make flight changes that require $100 rebooking fees.

[Sassy]

Anyone have an email address...we can parts of this thread...

[RMT]

Originally Posted by Sassy

Anyone have an email address...we can parts of this thread...

email address for which group? Broncos? NFL?

[RhymesayersDU]

I get the whole issue with travel, but screw having games late in the season with teams that are in last place, I want good prime time games that mean something.

[RMT]

Originally Posted by RhymesayersDU

I get the whole issue with travel, but screw having games late in the season with teams that are in last place, I want good prime time games that mean something.

I'm all for that, too, just not at the expense of those having to change travel arrangements at an additional cost.

[Sassy]

Originally Posted by RhymesayersDU

I get the whole issue with travel, but screw having games late in the season with teams that are in last place, I want good prime time games that mean something.

But that's easy for you to say...living in Denver...

[RMT]

Originally Posted by Sassy

But that's easy for you to say...living in Denver...

or for those who watch the games in the comfort of their own home rather than driving hundreds of miles to attend the games.

[coachmastermind]

As much as you want to complain about this- it's good for the NFL, and they get more money from ad revenue than fans attending a game, so from a business sense they want to put the best product on the field in prime time... it helps their fan base get excited and increases the ammount of fans for NFL football. (ex. someone who tunes into the NFL to just check it out, isn't going to be fired up by the Colts blowing out the Texans).

The simple answer for fans traveling and you feel this will be an is going to be this... if you only go to one game a season or a few games, you may want to pick the best ones from the first part of the season. If you travel to multiple or all games, it's best to just schedule your time as if it will be a prime time game when the schedule comes out, if they don't bump it back then you have a few extra hours built into your schedule... much easier than changing all your travel plans 12 days before.

This change is only for the last seven games of the season, so the Broncos will probably play at home 3 or 4 of those games. Odds are that a Broncos game would maybe be moved back once a season, and then it's 50/50 if we'd even be at home that week.

[scorpio]

Personally, I hate this idea. HATE it. The primetime lineup shouldn't be determined by which teams are more popular.

[Sassy]

Originally Posted by coachmastermind

As much as you want to complain about this- it's good for the NFL, and they get more money from ad revenue than fans attending a game, so from a business sense they want to put the best product on the field in prime time... it helps their fan base get excited and increases the ammount of fans for NFL football. (ex. someone who tunes into the NFL to just check it out, isn't going to be fired up by the Colts blowing out the Texans).

The simple answer for fans traveling and you feel this will be an is going to be this... if you only go to one game a season or a few games, you may want to pick the best ones from the first part of the season. If you travel to multiple or all games, it's best to just schedule your time as if it will be a prime time game when the schedule comes out, if they don't bump it back then you have a few extra hours built into your schedule... much easier than changing all your travel plans 12 days before.

This change is only for the last seven games of the season, so the Broncos will probably play at home 3 or 4 of those games. Odds are that a Broncos game would maybe be moved back once a season, and then it's 50/50 if we'd even be at home that week.

I understand the business point of it...but if you're traveling from a distance...say ND and that's the game you had planned to go to...say for instance, it was KC Vs. Denver...that would suck! (I'm guessing then division rivals would have a good shot at making that game...)


Yeah...you could just plan for it...but if it's a late Sunday night game...there are less flights out (especially if you live in a different time zone and have to connect) and you're also missing an extra day of work and income plus having to pay an extra night in a hotel.

[coachmastermind]

Originally Posted by scorpio

Personally, I hate this idea. HATE it. The primetime lineup shouldn't be determined by which teams are more popular.

I don't think it's so much by popularity as it is about putting the most competitive game... in week 7 I'd rather watch a 6-1 team take on a 5-2 team then watch a 6-1 team take on a 1-6 team... since from year to year teams change, and with signifcant injuries effecting the overall make up of a team (05 Eagles & Jets) there is no way to pick primetime games with accuracy, for example- Here are the prime time games from the last 7 weeks of 2005:


Sunday, Nov. 20 Kansas City at Houston (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Monday, Nov. 21 Minnesota at Green Bay (9 p.m. ET, ABC)
Sunday, Nov. 27 New Orleans at New York Jets (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Monday, Nov. 28 Pittsburgh at Indianapolis (9 p.m. ET, ABC)
Sunday, Dec. 4 Oakland at San Diego (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Monday, Dec. 5 Seattle at Philadelphia (9 p.m. ET, ABC)
Sunday, Dec. 11 Detroit at Green Bay (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Monday, Dec. 12 New Orleans at Atlanta (9 p.m. ET, ABC)
Saturday, Dec. 17 Denver at Buffalo (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Sunday, Dec. 18 Atlanta at Chicago (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Monday, Dec. 19 Green Bay at Baltimore (9 p.m. ET, ABC)
Sunday, Dec. 25 Minnesota at Baltimore (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Monday, Dec. 26 New England at New York Jets (9 p.m. ET, ABC)
Saturday, Dec. 31 New York Giants at Oakland (8 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Sunday, Jan. 1 St. Louis at Dallas (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

This system will fix some of those problems.

[coachmastermind]

Originally Posted by RMT

What would be better is if the NFL scheduled TWO games for Sunday night and moved one BACK to afternoon.

In theory it's a good idea for the prime time game because then you'd know who most likely will play in prime time, while eliminating the chance of them picking any of the 16 or so games to move back on a given week.

The only negatives are there's still a decent shot at picking 2 bust games any given week when making a schedule in April (which is the reason for making this change), and still have part of the same problem by giving an inconveience to the fans of the game that gets moved back to the afternoon. Now I have to get to the game earlier than I planned. Plus I'm pissed you didn't think my team was worthy of prime time.