NFL approves limited flexible scheduling for Thursday night games

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Thursday nights in the NFL have long been the most drastic feature of its made-for-TV schedule, a prime-time slot that raised concerns about player safety and produced plenty of competitive duds before it moved to a streaming-only platform.

Now the league will have the power, albeit limited, to change the matchups.

NFL owners approved Monday a flexible scheduling policy for Thursday night games on Amazon Prime Video, for Weeks 13-17 only and with at least 28 days’ notice given to the affected teams. The league could push a Thursday night matchup in that range to Sunday afternoon if there’s a more desirable game, a mechanism currently in place for Sunday night and Monday night games.

No team would be required to play more than twice on Thursday night in a season. The rule is just for 2023, for now. Any game during Weeks 13-17 could be selected for the move to Thursday night, but the league said the bar for such a shuffle would be high.

https://apnews.com/article/nfl-owners-quarterback-rule-49ers-commanders-c98b36b14e1b4ea4c8620ec805e1063d

Bet Amazon lobbied for this.

I would have included a mandatory bye for both teams before all Thursday games, even those played later in the season.

Better yet, just end Thursday Night Football. It's overkill.