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New York Times
28-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
The most-watchable NFL games in 2025: Chiefs-Cowboys, Bills-Chiefs, more
There is no more valuable entertainment content in the United States right now than NFL game inventory. But you might be surprised to learn that NFL regular-season viewership dropped 2.2 percent last season, with Fox, CBS and ESPN all seeing declines. The league averaged 17.5 million viewers per game for the 2024-25 season, down from 17.9 million viewers in the 2023-24 season. One reason for the downturn was a lack of competitive games across the league late in the year. Advertisement Hans Schroeder, the NFL's EVP for media distribution, said in an interview earlier this month said the league feels good about the balance for the 2025 regular season between front-loading the schedule and setting up big games (at least on paper) late in the year. When the new schedule came out, The Athletic's NFL team reporters each selected a must-watch game for each team, and Mike Jones had his list. We also took you behind the scenes with network executives who manage the schedule-making process with the league. Below, I wanted to give you insight from a media-centric perspective on which games should push the NFL conversation most in 2025, ranked in order of potential impact: Week 13: Kansas Chiefs at Dallas Cowboys (CBS, Paramount+, 4:30 p.m. ET) As I previously wrote, the NFL made a strategic decision to schedule the Chiefs versus the Cowboys in Dallas on Thanksgiving Day. The rationale, based on talking to numerous people at different networks, is that the NFL thinks the game can set a record for the most-viewed NFL regular-season game in history. (The record was set on Thanksgiving Day in 2022 when 42.1 million viewers watched the Cowboys beat the New York Giants on Fox.) 'We are not sure where the ceiling is here because it is such a unique day, building around family, food and football,' Schroeder said. It is not inconceivable for this game to come close to 50 million viewers if everything comes together. Week 9: Chiefs at Buffalo Bills (CBS, Paramount+, 4:25 p.m. ET ) CBS has ridden the Chiefs and Bills to viewership highs over the past couple of years, and this Week 9 matchup in Buffalo is on the short list for the most-watched regular-season game outside of the Thanksgiving trio. Last year's AFC Championship Game between the Bills and Chiefs averaged nearly 58 million viewers. Advertisement This is Fox's first big game of the season and a rematch of the 2023 Super Bowl. The CBS competition in the window features markets outside the top 10 (Denver Broncos-Indianapolis Colts and Carolina Panthers-Arizona Cardinals), so this will be one of the most-watched games of the regular season. Week 1: Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles (NBC, Peacock, 8:20 p.m. ET) The NFL has front-loaded its schedule the last two seasons to get off to a big viewership start, and this potentially outdraws last year's opener if it's close. The number to beat? Last year's 27-20 victory by the Chiefs over the Ravens averaged 28.9 million viewers on NBC and Peacock. It's a great opening game to set up conversations about the season. Week 1: Baltimore Ravens at Bills (NBC, Peacock, 8:20 p.m. ET) The best matchup of Week 1 comes on Sunday night — a rematch of the AFC divisional round playoffs and the last two NFL MVPs. The teams drew an audience of 42.2 million on CBS for a 6:30 p.m. ET kickoff last January. Week 14: Cincinnati Bengals at Bills (Fox, Fox One, 4:25 p.m. ET) When I spoke to Mike Mulvihill, the head of insights and analytics for Fox Sports and the person who runs point for his network on the NFL schedule, last month, he specifically pointed to this game as an example of Fox asking the NFL for more AFC inventory. 'We talked a lot with the league about the idea that 'cross-flex,' which is the policy by which NFC games can go to CBS and AFC games can go to Fox, needed to be a little bit more balanced,' Mulvihill said. 'That cross-flex mechanism was created to help balance the (media) packages, and in the years since then, the AFC has become significantly better than it was when that protocol was agreed upon.' If the Bengals return to playoff contention, which seems like a decent bet, Fox is looking at a 30 million viewership game, which would track as one of the most for the regular season. Advertisement Week 1: Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil (YouTube, 8:00 p.m. ET) I'd expect this to draw a lot of social media conversation given it's the first NFL game to be exclusively streamed live and for free on YouTube, along with YouTube TV. (The game will also be available on free, over-the-air broadcast television in the local markets of the teams.) From a business perspective, this feels like a test run for Google's YouTube to be a serious player for a large package of exclusive games when the NFL no doubt opts out of its current media deals in 2029. 'We are trying to be smart and go onto platforms that are already widely scaled and have a lot of NFL fans already,' said Schroeder. Week 14: Cowboys at Detroit Lions (Amazon Prime Video, 8:15 p.m. ET) Amazon Prime's most-watched regular-season game came last year when 17.29 million viewers watched Detroit's comeback victory over the Green Bay Packers. If the Cowboys don't crash out again and the Lions are what people anticipate this season, this game should top that. Week 17: Eagles at Bills (Fox, Fox One, 4:25 p.m. ET) Fox gets another significant NFC versus AFC game featuring the Eagles. This game drew 30.9 million viewers on CBS in 2023. Week 4: Ravens at Chiefs (CBS, Paramount+, 4:25 p.m. ET) This is the first week CBS gets the Chiefs, and it gets them in the late-afternoon Sunday window. CBS also has the Chicago Bears-Las Vegas Raiders in the late-afternoon window, which will bring down the numbers slightly, given the loss of the Chicago market. Week 8: Washington Commanders at Chiefs (ABC/ESPN, 8:15 p.m. ET) Take one part Jayden Daniels, one part Patrick Mahomes and add ESPN's over-the-top marketing of this game for a week. That's a formula for a big conversation week. The Commanders are in 10 national windows this year, and the league needs them to do well. Week 6: Lions at Chiefs (NBC, Peacock, 8:20 p.m. ET) NBC has the Chiefs three times and the Lions twice, and this is early enough where neither team is in jeopardy of being out of it, even with a significant injury. Advertisement Week 3: Lions at Ravens (ESPN/ABC, 8:15 p.m. ET) Disney's first opportunity to put up a big viewership number. The Lions were part of 2024's most-watched game on 'Monday Night Football' (22.2 million viewers for Lions-San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 30). Week 13: Packers at Lions (Fox, 1:00 p.m. ET) The opener of the Thanksgiving Day games has a slightly later kickoff time, which gives the NFL even more runway for added viewers. Last year's early game on CBS between the Bears and Lions averaged 37.5 million viewers, the most-watched early Thanksgiving Day game on record. An interesting note: The Bears-Lions last year averaged 40 million viewers from 2:30 p.m. ET until the game's conclusion. Week 17: Bears at Niners (NBC, Peacock, 8:20 p.m. ET) If you work under the premise that both teams are in the hunt for the postseason this year, this Week 17 game should have massive NFC implications. Week 13: Bengals at Ravens (NBC, Peacock, 8:20 p.m. ET) NBC's best Thanksgiving NFL viewership came in 2015 for the Bears-Packers, which drew 27.8 million viewers. This could top it. Week 13: Bears at Eagles (Amazon Prime Video, 3:00 p.m. ET) Black Friday is a significant date for Amazon Prime Video given the shopping connection, and Amazon Prime Video will also air the NBA this upcoming season. So, look for the streamer to air around 12 straight live hours of sports programming between the NFL and NBA. It's going to be a day when sports fans talk about Amazon Prime as it relates to sports. Week 6: Bills at Atlanta Falcons (ESPN, 7:15 p.m. ET) Bears at Commanders (ABC, 8:15 p.m. ET) A sneaky-good quasi-doubleheader, and it will be fascinating to see the viewership data afterward given both games have interest nationally. Week 17: Cowboys at Commanders (Netflix, 1:00 p.m. ET) The NFL took care of Netflix by assigning it the Cowboys and Cardinals to open Christmas Day. Last year's Ravens-Houston Texans game on Christmas averaged 24.3 million viewers, and the Chiefs-Pittsburgh Steelers game drew 24.1 million viewers. (Netflix said those numbers increased to 30 million and 31.3 million when the global audience was added.) This game looks like a better matchup than it had last year. Advertisement Week 10: Eagles at Packers (ESPN, ABC, 8:15 p.m. ET) Week 11: Lions at Eagles (NBC, Peacock, 8:20 p.m. ET) Week 12: Eagles at Cowboys (Fox, Fox One, 4:25 p.m. ET) I highlight this stretch because look how the NFL has set up the Eagles for a month of high-profile games in significant television windows — and Week 13 is the Black Friday game on Amazon mentioned above. It's a brutally competitive set of games for Philadelphia, but the big winner, as always, will be the NFL because all these games will rate. (Top photo of Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts: Timothy A. Clary / AFP via Getty Images)
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The NFL Is on Broadcast, Cable—and Now ‘New TV'
It was only a matter of time before YouTube streamed its own exclusive NFL action, with the platform now set to air a Week 1 Friday game between the Chargers and Chiefs in São Paulo, Brazil. Don't expect the company to stop at a single contest, either. 'YouTube is the new television,' the company's CEO announced at the beginning of the year. Google's video behemoth increasingly positions itself as the epicenter of media culture—TVs now represent the primary viewing device for those watching YouTube, while the platform draws a growing share of overall TV viewing time—and the NFL continues to modernize its media strategy, eager to put its games where its fans are. Advertisement More from YouTube and the NFL came together in 2022 on a $2 billion annual pact for Sunday Ticket rights. The rights for September's game come cheaper—likely in the range of $100 million, based on what Peacock paid for a similar asset in 2024, though the league has not shared financial details. All those numbers pale in comparison to the $54 billion YouTube earned in 2024 revenue. And yet, the single Sept. 5 clash signals a significant moment for YouTube as it puts its stamp on sports broadcasting. YouTube said it will bring interactive features to its debut, which could mean anything from comment threads to shopping integrations. It has also promised to leverage its unmatched creator pool. YouTube introduced a 'Watch With' option last year that lets creators stream themselves alongside event coverage. While YouTube can't offer the Manningcast, it's building the technology to empower users to create a million alternate options. And that's increasingly what viewers want to watch. In an age of reaction videos, a 2024 YouTube survey found that 66% of Gen Z Americans spend more time watching content that discusses something than that thing itself. Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, has already used his YouTube page as a sports broadcast hub. Advertisement 'Our ability to do more and innovate more and evolve more and understand and learn about how some of those different experiences can add to the overall game viewing experience for us—we think that is a huge positive,' NFL EVP of media distribution Hans Schroeder said in an interview. 'We're going to really lean in with YouTube and partner around all the different, unique ways we can make that Brazil game really special for our fans.' Schroeder said the hope is that those innovations will spill over to other broadcasts as well. YouTube will stream Chargers-Chiefs for free around the world as the NFL continues to grow its international business. 'This game is destined to be global,' NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said last fall. And outside the U.S., YouTube's free model gives it a leg up over competitors including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Those subscription platforms each boast between 200 and slightly more than 300 million global subscribers, while YouTube reaches 2.5 billion monthly active users. With the NFL marching towards 16 international games per season, the league is reportedly considering selling those games as a separate media package, likely for more than $1 billion annually. There are seven such tilts this year, with all but the Brazil game set to air on NFL Network. An international Super Bowl location continues to be floated as a possibility, too. YouTube has emerged as a likely contender for any new package, assuming it proves capable of monetizing its first free-to-view game. Advertisement Each new slicing of the NFL's media rights comes with at least some fan outcry over the additional fragmentation. Beyond cable, games will air exclusively on ESPN+, Netflix, Peacock, Prime Video and YouTube this year. The NFL also maintains its own subscription service, NFL+. Still, a vast majority of games air on local TV stations, and all streaming contests are also available over-the-air in competing teams' markets. As it expands online, the NFL has largely limited itself to new partners who already come with massive audiences signed up. The same is true for its newest exclusive game distributor. Everyone has YouTube. And no one has to pay. Now doesn't that sound like the future? Best of Sign up for Sportico's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Boston Globe
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
The NFL's national TV schedule makes a clear distinction between the Haves and Have-Nots
'There's a lot of opportunities for teams to get exposure, but teams play their way on,' said Hans Schroeder , NFL executive vice president of media distribution. 'The Commanders had two guaranteed national windows last year. They're in 10 this year. They played their way on. They've earned it.' The Haves are mostly the same teams that have dominated the league the past few seasons. Advertisement The Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The Super Bowl champion Eagles will be all over your TV, with six prime-time games ( Advertisement The Cowboys have six prime-time games plus Thanksgiving and Christmas, because they're the Cowboys. The Bills have five prime-time games (four in the first six weeks), plus four 4:25 p.m. national games. The Lions get five prime-time games, five games at 4:25 p.m., plus Thanksgiving and Christmas. The 49ers are still booked for five prime-time games even though they are rebuilding. Related : The one new darling this fall is the Commanders, coming off Jayden Daniels's electric rookie season. The Commanders have five prime-time games, three Sunday afternoon national games, Christmas Day, and the first-ever game in Madrid. Everyone will be getting rich off Daniels except Daniels, who will make $2.5 million in 2025. Meanwhile, the Have-Nots are generally the teams that picked at the top of the draft this year. The NFL used to have a rule that each team plays at least once on national TV, but no more. In 2025 the Browns, Titans, and Saints don't have any national TV games unless they get flexed into one late in the season. The Colts, Jaguars, Panthers, and Jets only have one prime-time game, and the Raiders and Cardinals have two each. Even The games in new international markets all have buzzworthy matchups. The NFL chose the Chiefs, the league's most popular team, to face the Chargers in the second game in Sao Paolo. The first game in Dublin will feature teams with massive followings, the Steelers and Vikings. The first game in Madrid will feature the Dolphins, with a huge Spanish-speaking fan base, and the Commanders, with their exciting young QB. Advertisement But the London and Germany matchups aren't as exciting, perhaps because the NFL already has built established fan bases there. The London games are Vikings-Browns, Broncos-Jets, and Jaguars-Rams, and the Berlin game is Falcons-Colts, none of which would move the needle much back in the United States. But those games still will sell out almost instantly in Europe. Other schedule nuggets ▪ For many years, the NFL scheduled good but not great games for its Kickoff, Thanksgiving, and international games, under the theory of, 'Why waste the top matchups when you'll watch anyway.' But the NFL is going for the ratings jugular in 2025. The Kickoff game of Eagles-Cowboys will produce a massive number. Thanksgiving has three huge matchups: Packers-Lions, Bengals-Ravens, and Cowboys-Chiefs, which might break every regular-season audience record. Eagles-Bears on Black Friday will post a big rating. And the NFL is going for all-out annihilation in its war with the NBA over Christmas, scheduling Cowboys-Commanders, Lions-Vikings, and Broncos-Chiefs. Related : ▪ The five toughest schedules based on 2024 win percentage: Giants .574, Bears .571, Lions .571, Eagles .561, and Cowboys, Vikings and Packers tied at .557. The five easiest schedules: 49ers .415, Saints .419, Patriots .429, Titans .450, and Panthers and Cardinals at .457. ▪ The Cowboys are the first team to get four Thursday games on the schedule, though only one is a traditional Thursday night game. The others are the Kickoff game, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The Bills, Lions, Packers, Chiefs, Rams, Dolphins, Vikings, and Seahawks all play two Thursday games. Advertisement ▪ Interesting to see the star-studded Ravens only get one 'Sunday Night Football' game, while the Steelers, Falcons, and 49ers were among the teams to get two. The Ravens have a weird schedule, with a three-game home stretch followed immediately by a three-game road stretch, followed immediately by another three-game home stretch. ▪ Aaron Rodgers is expected to sign with the Steelers at some point, but the schedule-makers didn't take that into account. If they had, the Week 1 Jets-Steelers game likely would have been in prime time. 'The schedule was built for Coach [ Mike] Tomlin and for the Steelers,' said Mike North , VP of broadcast planning. 'And if Aaron decides to play, it probably just makes many, if not all, the Steelers games a little more interesting.' ▪ The Jaguars are this year's road warriors, with games in San Francisco, Arizona, Las Vegas, Denver, and London. ▪ The NFL needs the Lions to be good again, because their schedule could be epic. Almost every week is a premier matchup: Ravens, Bengals, Chiefs, Commanders, Eagles, Cowboys, Buccaneers, Rams, Steelers, Packers (twice), and Vikings (twice). The Lions are helped by an NFL-best plus-13 rest differential, playing eight games with more rest than their opponents and only one game with less rest. Divisional games Week 1 is way too early No one at the league office asks for my opinion when creating the NFL schedule. That is apparent as ever, as the NFL has leaned into an aspect of the schedule I dislike the most — divisional games in Week 1. Of the 16 games scheduled for opening weekend, eight will be divisional rivalries, including Cowboys-Eagles, Chiefs-Chargers, Bucs-Falcons, and Lions-Packers. 'I don't think there's any hesitancy on our part to play division games in Week 1,' North said. Advertisement In my humble opinion, division games have no business being held in Week 1. Division games are the most important games on the NFL calendar, as division record is the No. 2 tiebreaker to determine a division winner. Division games count double in the playoff race, since 'record in conference games' is the No. 2 tiebreaker for the wild card. Division games can be the difference between getting a first-round bye or having to play on wild-card weekend. Or getting a home playoff game vs. going on the road. Or making the playoffs vs. watching on TV. And Week 1 football is awful. As Bill Belichick will tell you, the first four games are an extension of the preseason, especially Week 1. Starters barely have played in the preseason. Games are sloppy. Teams have no idea what they can and can't do. Blowouts abound — last season, the Saints beat the Panthers, 47-10, and in 2023, the Cowboys beat the Giants, 40-0. There's a reason college football teams schedule a couple of nonconference patsies as warm-up games before beginning conference play. Related : The NFL obviously likes scheduling premier matchups in Week 1. But it doesn't have to be division games. Week 1 should be for interconference games, which have the least impact on the playoff race. When the NFL expanded to 17 games, it added an additional AFC-NFC matchup for each team. The 17th game this season gives us Chiefs-Lions, Eagles-Bills, and Ravens-Rams. All would be perfect for Week 1. No fan would complain or even notice if divisional games were pushed back to Week 2 or later. They are far too important to schedule on a glorified preseason weekend such as Week 1. Advertisement Busy meeting Diversity initiatives given backseat The NFL has its next round of owners meetings next week in Minnesota, and the two-day session has several interesting items on the docket. The 32 owners likely will vote on a proposal from the Packers to ban not only the Tush Push, but any play that involves pushing a runner forward. Still unclear is the actual language of the rule, and whether the NFL will simply revert to the previous rule that was on the books until it was rescinded in 2005. Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL's medical experts are heavily in favor of banning the Tush Push and pushing plays, making it likely it gets the 24 owner votes to pass. The owners also will vote on whether to discontinue the practice of awarding an automatic home playoff game to division winners. Owners have long prioritized division championships, but Goodell is in favor of changing the system to a pure ranking by record. Related : The owners likely will debate changes to the onside kick, which has reached a historically low rate of recovery (about 5 percent). And the owners will vote on whether to allow active players to participate in the 2028 Olympics flag football competition. The rules would permit only a few players from each team to participate. But the meeting may be just as notable for what is not taking place — the NFL's 'head coach accelerator' diversity initiative, which was surprisingly canceled last week. Since 2022 the NFL had been holding accelerators for minority GM and head coaching candidates to introduce owners to a more diverse group of candidates to improve the league's poor record of minority football hires. The NFL said it will reboot the program in 2026. 'This will allow us to reimagine the program, reflecting on the feedback and engaging with stakeholders so we can ensure a successful program in the future,' NFL chief administrative officer Dasha Smith said. Left unsaid is that the NFL owners didn't take the accelerator program too seriously — several owners (including the Patriots') skipped the networking events over the years, and rarely hired any of the minority candidates. Canceling the program also comes in the wake of President Trump's war on diversity. And it happened just days after Goodell and the NFL puckered up to Trump, allowing him to announce The NFL says it remains committed to the Rooney Rule and other diversity initiatives. Its actions will speak louder. Belichick buyout The ins and outs of his contract Bill Belichick Yes, Belichick's buyout decreases on June 1 from $10 million to $1 million, but it's worth clarifying what that means, because it has confused the issue. The $1 million buyout is if Belichick wants to leave UNC, like if an NFL team wants to hire him. Belichick would have to pay $1 million to UNC. Of course, no NFL team is calling Belichick these days, and he has no reason to leave. But if UNC wants to fire Belichick without cause this summer, his five-year, $50 million contract has $30 million fully guaranteed. While Belichick and So unless something else major happens this summer, don't expect Belichick and UNC to part just yet. Belichick doesn't have much interest from the NFL, and UNC almost certainly doesn't want to pay Belichick $30 million without him coaching a single game. Extra points Every team seems to want to host the NFL Draft these days. The Commanders fought hard to get the 2027 draft, the Bills badly want it in 2028 or 2029, and the Bengals want it for 2029 or 2030. But the Patriots have shown little to no interest, mainly because of the Krafts' frosty relationship with the Boston mayor's office dating nearly 30 years and multiple administrations. But if Tyreek Hill and his arrest last fall. Let's get back to just announcing the picks and announcing the schedule … I know Mike Vrabel wants to establish his own leaders, but he really might regret Blake Ferguson , who held the job the last five years. For Vrabel, ditching a reliable snapper for a rookie is rife with danger … Derek Carr did the Saints a big solid last week, retiring because of a shoulder injury and agreeing to not accept $30 million in guaranteed salary this year. Carr says he's done, but he's only 34, and teams are always desperate for QBs. Even if Carr doesn't suit up this season, here's betting we see him in an NFL huddle again … A book excerpt from ESPN's Seth Wickersham revealed that Bears QB Caleb Williams didn't want to play for the Bears, and that his father tried to circumvent the NFL Draft entirely before they accepted their fate. Lost amid the hubbub is the fact Carl Williams was 100 percent correct. It's wholly unfair that the NFL Draft and rookie scale artificially capped Caleb Williams's earning potential and sent him to a team that has failed quarterbacks time and again. In no other industry is a talented college graduate told where he has to work, and how much money he is allowed to make. Unfortunately for Williams, the NFL Players Association negotiated those rights away. Ben Volin can be reached at
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NFL exec: Detroit Lions 'have played their way into bigger national television windows'
The Detroit Lions will kick off their annual Thanksgiving game later than usual this year, a move one NFL executive said the league made to get more eyeballs on the game. "We look at the data where we can to be informed," NFL executive vice president for media distribution Hans Schroeder said. "It told us there's a lot more fans that are home, that are back from wherever they are Thanksgiving morning to be on their couches and being able to watch. So that felt like a really obvious thing from the media perspective." Advertisement Traditionally, the Lions have started the NFL's Thanksgiving slate with a 12:30 p.m. kick. The Dallas Cowboys play in the 4:30 p.m. window, and the NFL added a rotating Thanksgiving night game in 2006. Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16), defensive tackle DJ Reader (98), wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (14), running back Jahmyr Gibbs (26), linebacker Al-Quadin Muhammad (69) celebrate their win against the Chicago Bears with a turkey drumstick after winning 23-20 on Thanksgiving Day at Ford Field in Detroit on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. While the Cowboys have typically had the most-watched Thanksgiving game, the Lions-Chicago Bears game last year averaged 37.5 million viewers, a smidge below the Cowboys-New York Giants game (38.8 million). Schroeder said the league saw a significant spike up in viewership in the Lions-Bears game after 1 p.m. The Lions host the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving this season. LET'S MAKE PICKS: Detroit Lions 2025 schedule predictions: Game-by-game picks, final record Advertisement "I think from 2:30 on that Chicago-Lions game was above 40 million viewers," Schroeder said. "I think the game averaged a little bit over 37 million viewers for the entirety of it. And so when we saw the numbers that broke it down by quarter hour at 12:30, I think it was in the mid-20s and maybe climbed to the higher-20s by 12:45, we just saw, hey, it was at a much higher level from 1 o'clock on." The Lions played the most-watched games on CBS, Fox, ABC and Amazon last season, team president Rod Wood said in March, and had the second most-watched game on NBC. As one of the NFL's best, most exciting teams – they went a franchise-record 15-2 and led the league in scoring last year – NFL vice president for broadcast planning Mike North said the Lions were an easy choice for primetime and national-TV games this season. Detroit Lions offensive players huddle before a snap against Green Bay Packers during the first half at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. The Lions play two Monday, two Sunday and one Thursday night game this fall, plus have games on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Eight of their nine road games are currently scheduled for 4:25 p.m. or later starts, and the ninth, their season finale against the Bears, is TBD like all Week 18 games. Advertisement The Lions play seven 2024 playoff teams on the road this fall: The Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders, Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota Vikings and Packers. Their other road opponents, the Bears and Cincinnati Bengals, also are playoff contenders. "It's not just about do we think they're going to be better? We don't know. None of us know," North said. "But our broadcast partners do. And so when we meet with all the broadcast partners at the beginning of this process and they make their list of, 'Hey, here's some of the games and some of the teams that we'd most be interested in,' obviously you've got your healthy dose of Dallas and Kansas City on there, but a definite representation, Lions, Washington, Denver, teams that have played their way into bigger national television windows. "And so that's why you do find more of those teams being more represented. Not just cause we think they're going to be better, but because our broadcast partners are eager to showcase them in big windows." As for the later Thanksgiving kick, Schroeder said the Lions were all in favor of moving the start time back to give fans more time to get home or to Ford Field after Detroit's Thanksgiving parade. Advertisement "I think they fully embraced moving that kick back till 1 o'clock as well," Schroeder said. "It works better locally, it definitely works better from the fans watching around the rest of the country so we love that as a win-win situation that's hopefully better for football fans everywhere." Dave Birkett is the author of the book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline." Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@ Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why Detroit Lions' Thanksgiving game moved to 1 p.m. start time
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kansas City Chiefs to open season against the Los Angeles Chargers in São Paulo, Brazil
The Kansas City Chiefs will begin their 2025 NFL season in São Paulo, Brazil, as they officially battle the Los Angeles Chargers in an early AFC West showdown. The highly speculated inclusion in the game was made official via Kansas City's social media channels shortly before the full schedule reveal. The Chiefs previously played internationally in Germany against the Miami Dolphins two seasons ago in a winning effort. They will be labeled the away team in opposition to Los Angeles in the division battle with Kansas City, hoping to rebound from the disappointing loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. This is the second consecutive season for the NFL, playing a Week 1 game in Brazil. It is the second national game of the week on Friday, September 5th. This year's game will also be another first for the league, with YouTube as the live broadcaster for everyone to tune in without a subscription. Advertisement "We are excited to expand our relationship with YouTube to bring this year's Brazil game to a worldwide audience," said Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution, in a statement. "YouTube and YouTube TV have been incredible partners of the NFL for several years and boast an immense global reach, and we look forward to Week 1 in São Paulo." The Chiefs are quickly becoming the international favorites of the league, with this honor to go along with Thanksgiving and Christmas Day games. This article originally appeared on Chiefs Wire: Chiefs to open season against the Chargers in São Paulo, Brazil
