You're the commissioner: Thursday Night Football

[masterfins]

Cut back the number of games, and work it so teams coming off a bye week play the game (or at least the visiting team is coming off a bye week).

[Baba Booey]

Cut back the number of games, and work it so teams coming off a bye week play the game (or at least the visiting team is coming off a bye week).

The two sides have come closer to going to 17 game regular season. With the money from the Thursday night package it makes adding extra games and roster spots possible. Give and take

[Phishfan]

Interestingly, I see people talking about how much money the Thursday game generates and how that isn't going to go away. As these rating go down the advertisers are going to realize that and stop making the same deals. The advertisers are going to drive the NFL price down on Thursday at some point if the matchups don't interest the people.

I don't see the games going away and I don't see any immediate changes but I suspect there will be a scaled back version coming at some point. There is just too much football saturation for a lot of people. I play pool on Thursday so I am exposed to football starting Thursday night through Monday (college football is included in my world) and with that much football going on I just don't have the desire if the matchups aren't good.

[masterfins]

Unless the Dolphins are playing I don't bother watching the Sunday or Monday night games anymore.  I only watch the Thursday night games because I'm out bowling in a league on Thursday nights, otherwise I wouldn't bother.  Not to mention I usually don't watch two games on Sunday anymore because only one network has the double header per week, and it's usually the network that Doesn't have the 2nd game with the game I actually want to watch.

[Sunstroke]

Leave Thursday Night Football the way it is...

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

When possible Thursday games should matchup two teams coming off bye....

When that is not possible, the visiting team must have had a home 1 pm or 4 pm game the week before and the must have a road game the week before.  Plus no cross country travel 1000 miles or less.

No 8 pm Sunday road game followed by a Thursday road game.

[Baba Booey]

When possible Thursday games should matchup two teams coming off bye....

When that is not possible, the visiting team must have had a home 1 pm or 4 pm game the week before and the must have a road game the week before.  Plus no cross country travel 1000 miles or less.

No 8 pm Sunday road game followed by a Thursday road game.

This year the NFL had the Redskins play a Monday Sunday night game then play AT Dallas on Thanksgiving which was criminal honestly.

[Phishfan]

This year the NFL had the Redskins play a Monday night game then play AT Dallas on Thanksgiving which was criminal honestly.

They played on Sunday night, not Monday.

[Baba Booey]

They played on Sunday night, not Monday.

Correct, my bad. Got my night games mixed up..lol

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

They played on Sunday night, not Monday.

Which I as supreme ruler and dictator of the NFL, ummmm I mean commissioner, would eliminate.

[Dave Gray]

Here is my final plan, adopting some of your ideas.

- Thursday night games will happen 8 times a year.  Opening weekend, Thanksgiving, and 6 other nights around BYE weeks.
- MNF will be the premiere game and will get first pick of any game on the schedule, but they have to pick prior to the season and the games are locked.
- TNF for the 8 weeks of the season it airs will have 2nd choice, but they also have to be locked in before the season.
- SNF can pick between the remaining games, but they can flex the schedule and take any game from earlier in the day, so long as they make the change at least two weeks ahead of time.

[Spider-Dan]

- MNF will be the premiere game and will get first pick of any game on the schedule, but they have to pick prior to the season and the games are locked.

Wait, what?

Why are you switching the premier game back to MNF (which is currently on cable)?  Making the premier game on Sunday night was the best move the NFL has done in decades.

[Dave Gray]

Because SNF can flex.  Mnf cant so you get shitty games.  I hate the move to SNF.  im fatigued but Sunday nights game.

[Spider-Dan]

But any broadcast that can flex will almost always have better late-season matchups than the "premier game" the following night.  ARI @ CAR was considered a premier game at the start of this season, but it would be worthless now; meanwhile, a stinker between two teams with double-digit losses last year - DAL and NYG - is the best game on the slate this week.

That is exactly the reason why MNF's ratings were tanking on ABC: the matchups that were picked before the season started ended up being clunkers that no one wanted to watch.  SNF and the flex mechanic was specifically designed as a solution to that problem; you're proposing going back to a system that already failed.

[Baba Booey]

Here is my final plan, adopting some of your ideas.

- Thursday night games will happen 8 times a year.  Opening weekend, Thanksgiving, and 6 other nights around BYE weeks.
- MNF will be the premiere game and will get first pick of any game on the schedule, but they have to pick prior to the season and the games are locked.
- TNF for the 8 weeks of the season it airs will have 2nd choice, but they also have to be locked in before the season.
- SNF can pick between the remaining games, but they can flex the schedule and take any game from earlier in the day, so long as they make the change at least two weeks ahead of time.

will never happen because FOX and CBS won't go for it. FOX and CBS pay so much money they have the ability to "block" or "hold onto " so many games per year. They aren't just gonna let NBC and ESPN take the best games every week and leave them with garbage.