NFL Media Chief Releases Massive Update On League Playing Wednesday Games Throughout The Season
This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.
When it comes to the NFL, fans already expect games to be played on Sunday, Monday, and Thursday. During December, the schedule shifts to give us Saturday games as we get closer to the playoffs.
With so much domination throughout the week, there have been talks about the possibility of games being played on yet another day.
The NFL does play games on another day, but the league limits these matchups to highly selective, special holiday or season kickoff events. That could soon be changing in the future.
NFL Chief Media Officer Hans Schroeder Clears Up Wednesday Game Rumors
Hans Schroeder addressed the league’s strategy regarding Wednesday games at the Front Office Sports Tuned In summit.
The NFL’s executive vice president and chief media officer made it clear that mid-week games will remain rare. Consequently, Schroeder noted that the league will be highly “selective” when scheduling matchups on non-traditional game days.
He also said that the league’s 17-game season is working well, but “our fans would love” an 18-game regular season if a deal is struck.
“We’re going to be selective,” Schroeder told Daniel Roberts, FOS editor-in-chief, about future scheduling.
“I don’t think what you’re going to see is playing Wednesday football throughout the year. But if there’s opportunities to do something creative like we did on Wednesday and Thanksgiving eve or like Christmas became on those certain days, we’re going to look at it. We’re going to figure out whether we think it’s a smart thing to do. And then we’re going to look at the numbers and make sure that the numbers and the viewership validates what our instincts are.”
The NFL has scheduled or played games on a Wednesday more than 40 times throughout its history. Playing on Wednesdays would force teams into a brutal and highly dangerous short week of preparation. Players would only get two full days of recovery after a standard Sunday afternoon game. Thursdays are already hard enough, but at least there is one more day of rest.
The last thing the league wants to do is get more players hurt.
