Changes to NFL Kickoff Times

[PanthersATL]

The NFL announced that Divisional Round games that are played on Sunday will now start at 3p ET and 6:30p ET instead of the old times of 1p ET and 4:40p ET.  This brings the play times for the Divisional Round more in line with the Conference Title games, and also makes it a bit more convenient for the West Coast fans to watch.

[An an unrelated note, the "singleheader rule" has been lifted, so each market will have the opportunity for three televised games on FOX or CBS each week. With the Panthers almost always playing at 1p this year, chances are this won't really affect any out-of-market viewers who were subject to the whims of local TV programming decisions, but we'll see how that goes]

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/05/22/nfl-changes-start-times-of-sunday-divisional-playoff-games/

[Khyber53]

You know, the only change to the playoffs scheduling I'd really like to see is to move the Superb Owl to Saturday night instead of Sunday.

 

[kungfoodude]

19 minutes ago, Khyber53 said:

You know, the only change to the playoffs scheduling I'd really like to see is to move the Superb Owl to Saturday night instead of Sunday.

 

No poo. Why it remains on a Sunday is a mystery to me.

[PanthersATL]

From Dec 2018:
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/roger-goodell-explains-why-the-super-bowl-wont-be-played-on-a-saturday-anytime-soon/

"That [idea] has been around for a long time, people have talked about that," Goodell said of moving the Super Bowl to a Saturday. "The reason we haven't done it in the past is simply just from an audience standpoint. The audiences on Sunday night are so much larger. Fans want to have the best opportunity to be able to see the game and we want to give that to them, so Sunday night is a better night."

With the game on a Sunday, the Super Bowl has produced nine of the 10 most-watched television shows in history. 

[PanthersATL]

https://www.si.com/more-sports/2011/02/04/super-bowl-saturday

"We hear this each year," said league spokesman Brian McCarthy. "The concept of playing the Super Bowl on a Sunday has worked well for 44 years and we don't anticipate moving away from this tradition. Fans expect to see the Super Bowl on a Sunday, the day on which 89.2 percent of NFL games are played."

Could a Saturday Super Bowl be successful? As the NFL's former senior vice president of special events, Jim Steeg worked on 26 Super Bowls during his tenure and is now a well-respected sports consultant based in San Diego. "Most people for the Super Bowl come in Friday and go home Monday morning," Steeg said. "I remember seeing a study a couple of years ago that said the average length of a stay at a Super Bowl was 3.3 days. So people pay for four days and stay for three. If you switched it to a Saturday, that one less day could decrease revenue, which might not be good for the local community."

[Palmetto]

At the same time the NBA is talking about having west coast games start early so people on the east cost can watch

[MountaineerChemist10]

1 hour ago, Palmetto said:

At the same time the NBA is talking about having west coast games start early so people on the east cost can watch

Thank God. Getting a little tired of watching games @ 10:30 at night...even though it is fun to hit the bars on a late Saturday night & watch the NBA Finals

[mc52beast]

1 hour ago, kungfoodude said:

No poo. Why it remains on a Sunday is a mystery to me.

NFL probably thinks most people are going out on Saturday vs not so much on Sunday. Only thing I can think of

[Khyber53]

1 hour ago, PanthersATL said:

From Dec 2018:
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/roger-goodell-explains-why-the-super-bowl-wont-be-played-on-a-saturday-anytime-soon/

"That [idea] has been around for a long time, people have talked about that," Goodell said of moving the Super Bowl to a Saturday. "The reason we haven't done it in the past is simply just from an audience standpoint. The audiences on Sunday night are so much larger. Fans want to have the best opportunity to be able to see the game and we want to give that to them, so Sunday night is a better night."

With the game on a Sunday, the Super Bowl has produced nine of the 10 most-watched television shows in history. 

Moving the game to Saturday night would probably make that record 10 of the 11 most-watched TV shows in history. People will skip other Saturday activities for the Superb Owl, imo.

[Moo Daeng]

People have things to get done on Saturdays. If you stop drinking yourself stupid then Sunday games are just fine.

If it comes to actually doing something. Say biking, hiking, skiing, etc then unless I my team is in the SB then I'm not wasting usable time to watch the Superbowl.

[Car123]

Saturday is the worst day for tv ratings.

[Still Brooklyn]

The only reason people want it on Saturday is so they don't have to go into work with a hangover. That's why it's on Sunday. The NFL doesn't need to cater to twenty-somethings.

[kungfoodude]

1 minute ago, Still Brooklyn said:

The only reason people want it on Saturday is so they don't have to go into work with a hangover. That's why it's on Sunday. The NFL doesn't need to cater to twenty-somethings.

Well, that's a good way to ensure the NFL has no future.

[Khyber53]

1 hour ago, Still Brooklyn said:

The only reason people want it on Saturday is so they don't have to go into work with a hangover. That's why it's on Sunday. The NFL doesn't need to cater to twenty-somethings.

Or because you've got school aged children and don't want to cut the night short to send them off to bed. In my case, at least, I don't drink so the Monday hangover isn't a problem, at least alcohol wise. 

There's a whole world of folks that have sh!t to do early Monday mornings who'd be able to enjoy the whole deal better with a Saturday night game.