What’s NFL Flex Scheduling? Roger Goodell Hints At New Model For Thursday Night Games Amid Ratings Slump

Topline

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday hinted at shaking up TV broadcasting of the league’s Thursday Night Football games through a model called flex scheduling, amid historically low Thursday night ratings—the league’s latest attempt to attract more viewers.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell flirted with the idea of flex scheduling for Thursday night football

Getty Images

Key Facts

When asked about the possibility of introducing flex scheduling on Thursday at a forum ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Goodell responded: “Not today,” but that the option will “certainly be something that’s on our horizon.”

It comes as the NFL looks to boost viewership for Thursday night games, which have been relegated for years to mid-level teams and last year suffered in comparison to high-profile Sunday and Monday games.

Last year, the NFL announced plans to introduce flex scheduling for Monday Night Football games—which have also struggled for viewership—starting with the 2023-2024 season.

The model gives networks that broadcast NFL games the ability to switch out some low-profile match-ups scheduled for primetime for more high-profile ones that could attract more viewers later at night.

What We Don’t Know

Adding flex scheduling for Thursday Night Football could also mean adding more Thursday games. The league only schedules one game each Thursday night during the regular season, with the exception of Thanksgiving, when there are typically three games played.

Contra

Although ratings climbed this year for NBC’s Sunday Night Football, as well as for CBS and Fox Sunday afternoon coverage, Amazon’s broadcasts of Thursday Night Football games fared much worse. NBC’s NFL coverage reached 19.9 million viewers per game, on average, while CBS brought in 18.5 million and Fox had 19.4 million in the afternoon time slot and an average of 24 million for late afternoon games, according to Neilsen data. Amazon, however, only averaged roughly 9.6 million viewers during its Thursday night games during the 2022-2023 regular season—a 41% drop from the 16.4 million that watched Thursday night games, on average, the year before.

Key Background

The NFL first implemented flex scheduling for its Sunday Night Football games in 2006, allowing networks to switch out two games between the fifth and 10th weeks of the season, and two more times between weeks 11 and 17, from their 1 p.m. or 4:30 p.m. start times to primetime. According to the league, the model enables “surprise teams” to “play their way onto primetime,” while networks are able to broadcast “quality matchups” during the primetime Sunday night slot. It’s one of several moves the NFL has made in recent years to boost ratings. In March, 2021, it expanded its regular season from 16 to 17 games starting with the 2021 season, despite concerns from several players raised over a series of bargaining agreement negotiations that more games could result in more on-field injuries.

Big Number

$9,000. That’s how much the average price of a ticket to the Super Bowl costs on the secondary market, according to TicketiQ, making it the second most expensive Super Bowl in more than 10 years, with four days left before the game. The cheapest nosebleed seat still costs $5,707, while fans willing to spend big for low-level midfield seats will need to pay more than $41,500 per seat.