Latest news with #HowardKatz
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
NFL Advertisers Should Heavy Up on Chiefs, Bills and 75% of the NFC East
In television there are no gray areas, no middle ground. You're either at the top of the heap with all your enemies slain at your feet—which is to say that you are an active NFL media partner—or you're locked in a gas station toilet filled with bees. The bees are incredibly angry about something, and you left your EpiPen behind the Auntie Anne's kiosk at the Short Hills Mall. If you're the CMO of a company that spends a fair amount of coin on national TV time, your best shot at warding off bug-borne anaphylaxis is to pick up a package of in-game NFL inventory during the spring upfront bazaar. First-time advertisers can set themselves up nicely with a $25 million introductory buy, which only sounds like a lot if you're still trying to stitch together your target audience by way of multiple units in sitcoms and doctor shows. As much as the entry-level cost of reaching the NFL's colossal audience may sting a bit, there's no getting around the fact that pro football is the most ruthlessly efficient way to reach the greatest number of consumers. The fall sports boom coincides with the prodigal fourth quarter, that holiday-juiced interval during which Americans spend about $300 billion more on stuff than they do during the entire rest of the year. For anyone who wants to get those registers ringing while people are hellbent on emptying their wallets, the NFL is the only game in town. If the stinging insects don't have you convinced, maybe a little math will do the trick. Case in point: While NBC's Sunday Night Football this past season scared up 6.57 million adults 18-49, the average live-same-day demo delivery for a broadcast entertainment show in 2024-25 is currently hovering around 418,000 per episode. In other words, NBC's NFL showcase serves up more than 15-and-a-half times as many advertiser-coveted viewers as does everything else in primetime. Of course, NBC is not the NFL's only delivery system, as the league continues to parcel out packages to an ever-expanding roster of media partners. Anyone who wishes to watch each of the 272 regular-season games will need access to over-the-air TV (NBC, CBS, Fox, ABC), a couple basic cable channels (ESPN, NFL Network) and a bunch of streaming services (Amazon's Prime Video, Netflix, YouTube, Peacock, ESPN+). That there are more platforms aligned with the NFL than at any time before means that there are also more opportunities to reach fans while they're watching the league's signature content. What follows is a list of the games that should give NFL advertisers the optimum number of impressions among an engaged, enraptured audience—provided you can work something out with all those bees. Top 10 Projected NFL Telecasts, 2025 1) Chiefs at Cowboys (CBS Thanksgiving Day Game, Nov. 27) 43.4M viewers In his last turn at the helm of the NFL's schedule-making apparatus, Howard Katz, senior VP of broadcasting and media operations, has dispensed altogether with subtlety in favor of an almost giddy show of blunt force. Because the Cowboys' Turkey Day ritual is such an automatic draw, the league has never had to be particularly choosy about which team it sends to JerryWorld on Tryptophan Thursday. Last year's window averaged 38.8 million viewers on Fox, and that was despite the fact that Dallas' opponent was a woeful Giants squad. Imagine, then, what CBS can expect when Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and his chanteuse buddy roll into Arlington during our great secular holiday. With the expansion of Nielsen's out-of-home panel, we may even be low-balling it here. Sure, it'll cost you more than $1 million per unit, but this holiday treat should be worth every penny. 2) Packers at Lions (Fox Thanksgiving Day Game, Nov. 27) 40.7M viewers If the early Lions game used to be seen as an appetizer to the main course down in Texas, Dan Campbell's bunch has remanded that way of thinking to the Kids' Table. With an average draw of 22.7 million viewers in its national TV windows, Detroit last year was the NFL's star attraction, edging Dallas by around 200,000 viewers per game. Fittingly, Katz has rewarded the Lions with no fewer than 12 coast-to-coast media appearances, and this Fox outing will be the most-watched of any of them. 3) Chiefs at Bills (CBS National Window, Nov. 2) 33.8M viewers Bill Cowher, who turned 68 just last week, was so fired up about seeing to his pregame NFL Today duties from Orchard Park that he threw himself into a folding table. Little wonder. If the rivalry between Mahomes and Josh Allen doesn't make you want to demolish shoddily-made furniture with your body, then you're probably already dead. We've run out of superlatives for this pairing, and CBS is about to run out of inventory. Act now or be shut out of the national water cooler conversation. 4) Cowboys at Eagles (NBC Kickoff Window, Sept. 4) 29.3M viewers Another example of Katz lugging coals to Newcastle. The NFL could schedule a UFL team to host Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem in the season opener, and NBC would still put up numbers; instead, fans can look forward to kicking off the fall campaign with an NFC East battle between the Super Bowl champs and America's Team. If you're a rival network, just throw up the color bars and call it a night. 5) Packers at Cowboys (NBC Sunday Night Football, Sept. 28) 28.2M viewers It's rare that Fox doesn't snag this battle between two of the NFL's biggest brands, but NBC wound up making off with the matchup this time around. The last regular-season meeting in 2022 was decided in overtime and served up 29.2 million viewers in 92% of the available markets. Dallas will look to avenge its 2024 playoff loss to Green Bay, while the Pack hope to see Jordan Love make the step up to the elite tier of QBs. Buy or die. 6) Eagles at Chiefs (Fox National Window, Sept. 14) 27.8M viewers Like the pope, Jake from State Farm is a Chicago guy, but since he also knows which side his bread is buttered on, he probably pretends to root for the Chiefs—at least when he's within arm's reach of Andy Reid. But guess what? Word from the Vatican has it that Pope Leo XIV is thisclose to declaring Saquon Barkley infallible. Holy smokes is this one going to be a lot of fun. 7) Bengals at Bills (Fox National Window, Dec. 7) 25.2M viewers A rare all-AFC spree for Fox, which looks to make a killing with its NFC North-heavy schedule. While CBS has won the ratings race the past two years running, Fox in 2025 will be the beneficiary of a record slate of 11 doubleheaders, and this Week 14 capper features two quarterbacks who connected on a combined 71 touchdown passes last season. Think of this as a dress rehearsal for the AFC Championship Game. 8) Eagles at Bills (Fox National Window, Dec. 28) 24.7M viewers If they ever make a Broadway musical based on the Barry Manilow song Copacabana, the part of Rico will be played by Josh Allen's mustache. The Eagles and Bills may be running this one back just 42 days later. 9) Lions at Packers (CBS National Window, Dec. 7) 24.4M viewers Like investing in a line of beer cozies that have the 'Serenity Prayer' embossed on the sides, Lions-Packers games are almost always a dumb, fun and crazy bit of business. One of sports' longest-running rivalries plays out inside a place that's become synonymous with a bruising, no-quarter-asked/none-given brand of football: This is how you kick off the Sunday afternoon national window. 10) Commanders at Chiefs (ABC/ESPN Monday Night Football, Oct. 27) 23.7M If it's weird and probably more than a bit unfair to be casting Mahomes in the role of the NFL's eminence grise, that's what earning a spot in five of the last six Super Bowl gets you. The Chiefs' leader will have celebrated his 30th birthday when Arrowhead rolls out the red-and-gold carpet for Jayden Daniels & Co., but given the weird dilation of post-COVID time and the Chiefs' watery ubiquity, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Mahomes went to high school with Sid Luckman. (Matthew Brady took their yearbook pictures.) Daniels last year looked for all the world like the eventual successor to Mahomes' greatness, and while it's pointless to saddle a 24-year-old with unbounded hype, it's not as if he's ever going to read this. But you sure did. More from Advertisement Best of Sign up for Sportico's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Revealed: The huge scheduling change being made at NFL HQ after 2025 matchups are released
Wednesday will mark the release of the NFL's 2025 schedule, but a big change is set to be made at the league's headquarters afterwards. Howard Katz, the NFL's senior vice president of broadcasting and media operations, has overseen the league's matchup-making for over 20 years. But after the latest round of matchups come out for all 32 teams, the 75-year-old will be retiring, as he told The Athletic. Katz, who was recognized by commissioner Roger Goodell at the league's annual meeting this year, will reportedly have his duties assumed by executive vice president of media distribution Hans Schroeder. Katz's team of schedule-makers are said to use 200 to 300 computers to aid their process (a huge increase from the one or two that were used initially). The computers are input with rules for the schedule to abide by, such as avoiding a three-game road trip, but the decision-making ultimately lies with Katz as he continually repeats the process and makes adjustments. The 2025 international slate! 📺: NFL Schedule Release — Wednesday 8pm ET on NFLN/ESPN2 📱: Stream on @NFLPlus — NFL (@NFL) May 13, 2025 Katz told The Athletic that he receives a bevvy of personal scheduling requests, asking him to plan around weddings, bar mitzvahs and more. He also recalled the Pope's visit to Philadelphia in 2015 shaking up the Eagles schedule that year, while concerts in the same city as a team can also affect scheduling. While the schedule has yet to be released in full, the NFL began releasing details on Monday, announcing that the season would begin with the Super Bowl-champion Eagles hosting the Cowboys. On Tuesday, the league also released its international slate, which features a record seven games this season. The Chargers will face a yet-to-be announced team in Sao Paulo, the Vikings will play in Dublin against the Steelers, and then against the Browns next week in London. There will also be Broncos-Jets and Rams-Jaguars matchups in the English capital, while the Colts and Falcons will play in Berlin. The Dolphins and Commanders will also play the first NFL game in Madrid on November 16.
New York Times
13-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Meet the man behind the NFL schedule, on the verge of his retirement
Howard Katz had just finished his presentation to NFL coaches and general managers, explaining how he and his team make the league's schedule. 'Have you ever done that presentation before?' a coach asked him. 'Yes, but not to this audience,' Katz replied. 'You should never do it again.' 'Seriously? … Why?' Advertisement 'I always thought the scheduling process was completely random,' the coach said. 'It bothers me to know there's a small group of people who have that much control over destiny.' For two decades, Katz has been at the center of each year's NFL schedule. Coaches and networks lobby him for perks and complain about grievances. He's the unknown planner behind every NFL fan's fall Sundays. The schedule-making process spans from January to May, refining endless possibilities in an infinite pattern of give-and-take. 'The same thing over and over again, expecting a different result,' Katz said during a recent phone call. 'That's what we do for months.' After the 2025 schedule is unveiled Wednesday, Katz, 75, will retire from being the league's senior vice president of broadcasting and media operations. Sports were always a part of Katz's life, but he never pictured a career in the industry. At Colgate University, Katz was the sports editor of the school newspaper and sports director at the radio station, where he did play-by-play for the football, basketball and baseball teams. After graduating in 1971, Katz was offered a job as a production assistant at ABC Sports. 'I didn't know what it entailed, but it seemed pretty cool,' he said. For the next year, he worked for various sporting events, including 'Monday Night Football' and the 1972 Munich Olympics. 'I figured I'd do that for a year or so, and then I'd go to law school,' Katz said. 'But I never got to law school.' Various production opportunities followed, including stops at ESPN, where he helped launch ESPN2, among other initiatives, and a return to ABC Sports as president. In 2003, Katz landed with the NFL. Within a year, his role running the business side of NFL Films merged into leading the league's broadcast department. Advertisement Katz's background in the television business brought a new perspective to the scheduling process, particularly as the NFL grew into one of the country's most lucrative television products. In 2023, the league began an 11-season media rights agreement with Amazon Prime Video, ESPN, NBC, Fox and CBS worth $110 billion, nearly double the value of its previous contracts. Partnerships with Netflix for Christmas Day games and Peacock, the streaming service of NBC, followed. And, as reported last week by The Athletic, Google's YouTube has emerged as a favorite to stream its first NFL game on Friday of opening week. In the schedule-making room, Katz's biggest impact was meshing team needs with broadcast desires, vice president of broadcast planning Mike North said. '(Katz was) really the one that pulled everything together. He was the right guy at the right time as we transitioned from a couple of guys in a room with a pegboard to managing what ended up being $100 billion worth of media,' North said. 'The reason (broadcasters) pay the money now, quite honestly, is because Howard showed them they're going to have an opportunity to get their priorities met as well as taking care of our teams.' When Katz started, he and his team used one or two computers to assist the scheduling process. Now, there are anywhere from 200 to 300 computers at their disposal. The team trains the computers to think the way they do, inputting rules to reflect their wants. For example, they input a rule to avoid three-game road trips, and the computers formulate schedules that follow the criteria as closely as possible. Each morning, Katz evaluates the computers' suggestions, highlights the positives, inputs new rules to correct the negatives and begins the process again. But it still boils down to human input. Advertisement There's no shortage of factors that impact each year's schedule. There are international and holiday games. Schedule-making begins in earnest after the Super Bowl, but notable trades and selections in the NFL Draft can result in last-minute adjustments. They receive personal requests, like teams asking to schedule around weddings, bar mitzvahs or previously planned vacations. There are situational hurdles like avoiding overlap with certain cities' MLB home games or concerts, which is probably the most difficult, Katz said. There are special circumstances, too. Katz remembers, in 2015, having to avoid an Eagles home game on the same weekend the Pope visited Philadelphia. Or, in 2020, spending the entire summer planning for every what-if amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Even if it required moving a Ravens-Steelers game to a Wednesday, the league finished that season with zero cancellations, which Katz considers his most remarkable accomplishment. 'It's funny, usually at the March annual meeting, coaches, general managers, owners, will all be lobbying for something, whether it's more prime-time games, 'Don't send me here after this game,'' Katz said. 'And then by the May meeting, after the schedules come out, I'm hearing from everybody about what they liked or what they didn't like. 'People aren't bashful about that.' Listening to requests and balancing them against what's best for the NFL is at the core of Katz's work. He has seen the DNA of the schedule change. At one point, he and his team felt strongly about putting more division games late in the season. In 2010, the league began drawing up only divisional games in the final week of the regular season. 'That was a central moment in the scheduling process,' Katz said. 'Once we did it, we said, 'This really works. We should never go back.'' Advertisement More changes could be on the way, too. Commissioner Roger Goodell has expressed interest in expanding to an 18-game season, which would further complicate the scheduling puzzle. 'As a fan, I love it. If I can swap out a preseason weekend for another regular-season weekend, and if we do end up adding a second bye for every team, you're talking 20 weeks of NFL football instead of 18,' North said. 'As a member of the scheduling team, it's daunting.' Katz's work earned him induction into the New Jersey Sports Hall of Fame in 2014, and he was the 2022 recipient of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award. At this year's annual league meeting, Goodell recognized Katz in front of team executives, who gave him a standing ovation. 'It really means a lot to me, because I put my heart and soul into this,' Katz said. 'To know that whatever I did was appreciated goes a long way.' The future for Katz is still being decided. He grew up a New York Giants fan but has spent the last 23 years impartial. He took his grandchild to Super Bowl LIX, which made the 9-year-old an Eagles fan, but most of his other grandchildren took on the family's Giants fandom, with one New York Jets rebel. Katz plans to find another hobby soon. His retirement wasn't sudden, and the scheduling team has slowly been preparing for this transition over the past few years. Executive vice president of media distribution Hans Schroeder now leads the scheduling team. Nonetheless, North feels confident that if they have to call Katz up with questions, he'll answer. But first, it's time for Katz's final reveal. 'There are an incredible number of really strong games (on the 2025 schedule); games that Howard would say 'Sounds like a football game,'' North said. 'And so we've got an opportunity here. Yes, we're spreading ourselves a little more thin, adding in streaming partners, more days of the week, Christmas, Black Friday, Friday night in Week 1 and more international games. 'There are definitely more mouths to feed, but it feels like we've got a real buffet on our hands for the 272 (matchups) this year.' (Illustration: Will Tullos / The Athletic; photo: Bobby Bank / Getty Images)
