Why isn't there a prime time game every night? (1 Viewer)

[shnikies]

Would it be sacrilegious to the game not to have most games on Sunday?

I don't see how the NFL wouldn't kill it in ratings every single night of the week. The Colts-Saints blowout beat the World Series Sunday night in the 18-49 demo. Scheduling wouldn't be as difficult as one would think with a worst case scenario being that you add a week to the season and have two byes per team. I think I'm missing something very obvious. Is it a respect for the NBA? Would the NBA be able to compete? Please don't flame, I'm merely curious.

 

[Warhogs]

I think this would actually hurt the NFL popularity. This might be hard to believe for a group of fantasy football nutjobs like us guys here but I think a lot of appeal to the casual NFL fan that baseball and basketball don't have is that you can generally plan on keeping up with your team that once a week on Sunday. A lot of casual fans would hate the idea of not knowing what night of the week theie team was playing. I am a big football fan but I would grow tired of watching it if it was on every night. I don't think they would kill in the ratings as much as you think.

 

[thriftyrocker]

Why don't they have double headers?

 

[Reepicheep]

Wives everywhere would revolt.

 

[Flying Elvis]

Let's just go with baby steps and get two games on both networks every Sunday.

I think there's a huge disadvantage to teams if they have a game Wednesday night then again on Sunday.

Personally, I would not like the fact that the aforementioned wifey revolt would likely cause me to miss some games during the week.

 

[Benicio10]

Assuming no byes, it should be:

1 game Thursday Night Football

1 game Friday Night Football

1 game Saturday Night Football

12 games Sunday (1 Sunday Night)

1 game Monday Night Football

No games on Tuesday, Wednesday

 

[Mario Kart]

Terrible idea. Games should be left to all day Sunday and one/two Monday night. Get rid of the Thursday night games and continue the Saturday games when college is done.

 

[LittlePhatty]

I think I'm missing something very obvious.

Scarcity increases demand.

 

[Riffraff]

I thought it was an unwritten rule not to compete with college football on Saturdays and High School football on Fridays. Kind of why there are games on Sunday, Monday, and Thursdays. Sometimes Saturdays at the end of the year when college football season is mostly over (except bowl games).

May even be verbiage in the TV contracts.

That said, football is a rough sport, players need the full week to come back from the beatings.

I think it would degrade the quality of the product if you don't give the coaches time to prepare, the trainers time to train, and the players time to practice.

 

[shnikies]

Let's just go with baby steps and get two games on both networks every Sunday.

I think there's a huge disadvantage to teams if they have a game Wednesday night then again on Sunday.

Personally, I would not like the fact that the aforementioned wifey revolt would likely cause me to miss some games during the week.

There would be ways to schedule around that with the placement of byes and such. Obviously, going from the current schedule to daily games would be drastic but Thursday to Monday doesn't seem that crazy. Arguing the point that going up against college or even high school would be difficult is valid but how would the ratings change from moving a regional noon Sunday game to a national telecast on Friday or Saturday night?How about at least having MNF double headers. I'm a big fan of those opening weekend. Have CST and EST games in the early slot and MST and PST in the late slot.

 

[Apple Jack]

I've given this some thought and there are a few things that I think come into account, because at face value one would think that the advertising revenue potential in having games on more nights a week would be enormous. I think, first, that there is something in the NFL model that considers the overwhelming feeling on Sundays, with games going on everywhere all at once, as vital. So much excitement condensed into those six hours, with the country, collectively, all focused in at the same time. That is a huge element of their brand. Sunday is NFL football. Period. I think you run the risk of diluting your product by spreading it out and making it something you can see anytime. Although I think they're wrong about that, I know I can sense a little less there on Sundays when games start getting played on Thursday/Saturdays. There's definitely some psychology in the equation. I think a small part of it could be professional courtesy to the NBA and NHL, not to mention college football on Saturday and high school football on Fridays. Then there's the issue of scheduling and teams being at a disadvantage for having short turnarounds, but there could be a computer model to see to it that teams end up all similarly hit by this in the end. Although, I think those teams with shorter turnarounds at the end of the season would be at more of a disadvantage due to the cumulative fatigue of the season and lack of prep time for games with more weight/playoff implications (I know...they all count the same, but you know what I mean.) I imagine there are infrastructure concerns at and around the stadiums in some cases. And then there's the this is just how we've always done it thing.

Whatever the case, I don't really understand the logic of doing Thursday night games opening week and then from week 10 on. Is it because they think they need the gravity of a playoff hunt to draw numbers? I assume the timing of the Saturday games is because that's when the college season is over for most teams.

 

[Apple Jack]

Assuming no byes, it should be:1 game Thursday Night Football1 game Friday Night Football1 game Saturday Night Football12 games Sunday (1 Sunday Night)1 game Monday Night FootballNo games on Tuesday, Wednesday

No Friday night. That's high school football and people go out. I like how they do it now, but would make Thursday night a regular thing.

 

[Casting Couch]

The divorce rate in America would skyrocket.

 

[Dought Man]

imagine trying to create a fair schedule with games every night of the week.

Oh ####, we scheduled the Saints with a Sunday night game week 1 and they play Tuesday in week 2!

 

[massraider]

Football is the only pro sport where you can get it all done on one day (for the most part). You only have to pull it together, so to speak, once a week. And it's the day almost everyone can feel fine about sitting down, and watching sports all day long.

And if there is a game on off days, like Monday, and Thursday, it's only one game. Not like hockey or basketball or baseball where there is a bunch of games, every single night.

it's the easiest sport to be a casual fan, and still feel like you aren't missing anything. I think it's one of the underrated reasons why it became so popular. The NFL just took over Sundays; in retrospect, it was a slick move. No other sport has days associated with it. If you think of the NBA, there is no day of the week you think of.

I think a lot of NFL fans like not having a game every night. I don't think what you are talking about isn't feasible, I could easily see the NFL doing it. And I don't think it would hurt the league. But for me personally, I like not having games every single day. I don't want to watch TV 7 days a week. And I wouldn't, so I would wind up only watching interesting games, and then Sunday would be watered down, with bye weeks, and prime time games all week, you would have Sundays that would completely suck. All the good games would be on prime time.

 

[shnikies]

imagine trying to create a fair schedule with games every night of the week.Oh ####, we scheduled the Saints with a Sunday night game week 1 and they play Tuesday in week 2!

Yes, they put that exact amount of thought into scheduling.

 

[flc735]

it kills fantasy football but i wouldn't mind seeing a ufc style format. 4-5 games spread out over each week, teams play once every 2-4 weeks and all year round. no off season

 

[Jewell]

Football is the only pro sport where you can get it all done on one day (for the most part). You only have to pull it together, so to speak, once a week. And it's the day almost everyone can feel fine about sitting down, and watching sports all day long.

And if there is a game on off days, like Monday, and Thursday, it's only one game. Not like hockey or basketball or baseball where there is a bunch of games, every single night.

it's the easiest sport to be a casual fan, and still feel like you aren't missing anything. I think it's one of the underrated reasons why it became so popular. The NFL just took over Sundays; in retrospect, it was a slick move. No other sport has days associated with it. If you think of the NBA, there is no day of the week you think of.

I think a lot of NFL fans like not having a game every night. I don't think what you are talking about isn't feasible, I could easily see the NFL doing it. And I don't think it would hurt the league. But for me personally, I like not having games every single day. I don't want to watch TV 7 days a week. And I wouldn't, so I would wind up only watching interesting games, and then Sunday would be watered down, with bye weeks, and prime time games all week, you would have Sundays that would completely suck. All the good games would be on prime time.

Yep. Part of what makes football so great is that you gear up all week for that one game. You discuss it, you analyze it, it's like foreplay before the big event. Some of that anticipation time would be lost on a short week.

Overavailability of a sport causes oversaturation, and oversaturation often causes indifference to any one game. That's why I have no desire to watch a regular season baseball or basketball game. The same would eventually happen if football was on every night.

Besides, football is far too physical for this to be practical. If a team were to have the Wednesday night game they would have to have a bye the Sunday before to be ready. If they just had their bye the Sunday before the Wednesday game, though, they wouldn't have a bye avaialble the Sunday after that Wednesday game and they'd be spent.

 

[shnikies]

Football is the only pro sport where you can get it all done on one day (for the most part). You only have to pull it together, so to speak, once a week. And it's the day almost everyone can feel fine about sitting down, and watching sports all day long.

And if there is a game on off days, like Monday, and Thursday, it's only one game. Not like hockey or basketball or baseball where there is a bunch of games, every single night.

it's the easiest sport to be a casual fan, and still feel like you aren't missing anything. I think it's one of the underrated reasons why it became so popular. The NFL just took over Sundays; in retrospect, it was a slick move. No other sport has days associated with it. If you think of the NBA, there is no day of the week you think of.

I think a lot of NFL fans like not having a game every night. I don't think what you are talking about isn't feasible, I could easily see the NFL doing it. And I don't think it would hurt the league. But for me personally, I like not having games every single day. I don't want to watch TV 7 days a week. And I wouldn't, so I would wind up only watching interesting games, and then Sunday would be watered down, with bye weeks, and prime time games all week, you would have Sundays that would completely suck. All the good games would be on prime time.

Yep. Part of what makes football so great is that you gear up all week for that one game. You discuss it, you analyze it, it's like foreplay before the big event. Some of that anticipation time would be lost on a short week.

Overavailability of a sport causes oversaturation, and oversaturation often causes indifference to any one game. That's why I have no desire to watch a regular season baseball or basketball game. The same would eventually happen if football was on every night.

Besides, football is far too physical for this to be practical. If a team were to have the Wednesday night game they would have to have a bye the Sunday before to be ready. If they just had their bye the Sunday before the Wednesday game, though, they wouldn't have a bye avaialble the Sunday after that Wednesday game and they'd be spent.

I also agree that this is the main reason it wouldn't work. I still think they should have a Thursday night game and two MNF games every week. You will not convince me otherwise, you hear?!?!?!