Some may not remember, but there was a time the NFL was only for Sundays. You could sit on your couch and all the games would be played during one day of the week. You can still do that, and most games are still played on Sunday, but now the NFL is on three nights a week.
The league has been around for years but it wasn’t until the 1970’s that Monday Night Football became a common thing. And it wasn’t until the mid-2000s that Thursday night football games began.
This season, because of complications from COVID-19, the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans played a game on a Tuesday night.
There are obvious reasons why the NFL can’t have games every night like most other sports, but there is one big factor that could push them to it.
The NFL will likely never play games every night of the week, but the pandemic has shown four nights a week is possible. So why not go for five?
History of Scheduling
The NFL owns a day of the week. The same day the Church used to own. Now it’s theirs.— Dr. Cyril Wecht
The NFL has grown exponentially in popularity in the past fifty years. With that growth, they’ve expanded to allow more games to be seen. In addition to games played every Sunday, the NFL has a game on Thursday and Monday night.
The Monday night games have been around for many years, first airing in the 1970s. Monday Night Football is one of the most-watched shows in the U.S. It helped football become the most popular sport in the country. Year after year, Monday Night Football is one of the highest-rated weekly broadcasts.
And then came Thursdays. The NFL technically started Thursday football in 1934. That year the Detriot Lions played on Thanksgiving. In 1966 the Dallas Cowboys got an annual Thanksgiving game too. And in 2006, the league started having a third game played at night.
Besides Thanksgiving, Thursday Night Football can be traced back to the mid-2000s. In 2006 the NFL had five games on Thursday night and three on Saturday night in the weeks leading up to the playoffs. From this success, they had games every year near the end of the season on Thursdays or Saturday nights. Then in 2012, they decided to have Thursday night games every week of the season, starting in week two.
The NFL now has games on Sunday during the day, afternoon, and at night, in addition to games Thursday and Monday night.
Why the NFL Will Consider Playing Every Night of the Week
Money.
At the end of the day, the NFL is an organization trying to maximize profits. For the NFL to make more money, they need more views. As there are more views of their games, advertisers will have to pay more to put ads on commercials. And networks will pay more to keep the rights to be able to televise NFL games.
The obvious way to increase viewership, which the NFL has figured out, is to spread out games. If all NFL games were played on the same day, at the same time, viewership would be terrible because each game would be fighting against one another to gain views.
Spreading out games to include Thursday, Sunday, and Monday night means those three games will be the only NFL games played at those times. They will face no internal competition from other NFL games. Fans of the NFL will often watch three nights of football, even if their team is not one of the teams playing, and as fantasy football has become more popular, fantasy owners watch games to see how their fantasy players perform.
The NFL wants to make more money, who doesn’t? An easy way to increase views and therefore increase revenue is to spread out when their games are on national television.
Why the NFL Won’t Consider Playing Every Night of the Week
The NFL has made many changes in recent decades to make the league safer. Player’s safety has been a big issue, especially with the increased knowledge of concussions.
Some changes in recent years to make the league safer include protecting the quarterback, not tackling above the neck, reducing helmet to helmet contact, and allowing less two-a-day practices during the preseason.
Playing games every night of the week would reduce players’ safety and health. Players already dislike playing a game on Sunday and then playing their next game Thursday night.
Football is a physical game. Players need several days off to rest their bodies and be ready for their next game. Playing games on shorter rest periods would lead to more injuries. If the NFL wants to stand by its message of concern for player’s safety, the decision to not add an extra night of football would be an easy one.
Once the pandemic is over and the NFL gets back to its old “normal”, they may consider adding Tuesday night or Saturday night games. There are financial benefits but health drawbacks, and any discussions over the matter are sure to stir up issues between the players and owners.