DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum NFL exploring possibility of flexing games to 'Monday Night Football' in the future, per report

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There's a ton of change coming soon for the NFL, and that much is certain. With the league currently in active negotiations to get a new Collective Bargaining Agreement agreed to by the NFLPA and in place as soon as possible, concessions will have to be made by both sides in order to achieve that goal. The biggest talking point as of late is the possibility of stretching the regular season to 17 games from the longtime standard of 16, and while all of that gets hashed out, there's another question the NFL has for players.

The league wants to know if teams are open to adjusting the schedule flex format going forward. The ability to flex games is standard practice in the NFL nowadays, with teams routinely being notified beginning with Week 5 of the regular season if they'll remain in an early Sunday time slot or if they'll be pushed back into one that garners more viewership, i.e., Sunday late afternoon or Sunday Night Football. What has not been an option to this point is the ability to flex from Sunday to Monday, but that could change in the future.

After all, if the goal is to flex premium matchups into prime slots, it seems inevitable it would eventually involve Monday nights.

A proposition has been reportedly made by the NFL to install such a clause in the new round of TV contracts -- per the Sports Business Journal -- after the current agreements with the four major networks are renewed. The deal with ESPN is set to expire following the 2021 season, and deals with CBS, NBC and FOX are all set to follow suit after 2022. By then, and by all accounts, a new CBA should be in place that aids in the renegotiation of rights between the NFL and the respective networks. If the NFL gets is wish, football fans might one day see big ticket games moved from Sunday's early slot to "Monday Night Football," but there's still much to consider even if they get the approval of all 32 clubs.

And, even if approved, there's quite a bit of obstacles to work through, one being which network lands MNF in the future.


Additionally, as it stands, the NFL is required to notify teams no later than 12 days prior if their game will be flexed on Sunday afternoon. Pushing a matchup to Monday would put the two "Sunday" teams on a short week to follow, and also means the original two "Monday" teams would have one less day to prepare for the Sunday slot they get dropped into. This would require a revisit on the 12-day deadline for notification by the league, as would the logistics of team travel/lodging and getting all of the networks on the same page before new TV contracts are signed.

And then there's the fan aspect, because those who purchase and make travel plans for Sunday games could see their game flexed less than two weeks prior to kickoff, which would throw the fans' entire itinerary into turmoil. Considering there are droves of fans who also have jobs and/or children -- making it hard to simply presume a Monday night game is doable for them -- the league getting what they want could alienate the very people they're trying to please with better matchups.

Bottom line is it isn't easy to change travel plans at a moment's notice, be it for a team or the fan of a team.

So while flex scheduling has been wildly successful and there's some incentive to adding MNF to the mix, needless to say, it won't be an easy sell or installation.

** As a fan that often travels to away games.. I cannot emphasize how opposed I am to this idea

Hmmmmmmmmmm... I can't decide if I like this or not. I was never going to buy full price tickets in advance to begin with. I was thinking getting flexed might lead to cheaper tickets with people unable to go, but, if we're doing well enough to get flexed, prices would probably be even higher.

So yeah, seems like a bad idea for in stadium viewers/ticket holders.

Don't love this idea... flexing too Sunday night is hard enough... flexing to another day would be rough...

Bingo!

This is a logistical nightmare for the fans and the teams themselves. They book the hotels for games months in advance. Finding out you are playing a different day of the week twelve days in advance would be a nightmare when dealing with changing travel plans.

not a fan of this.. unless it was at least 2 weeks ahead flex or something that gave people enough time to from Sunday night to Monday night.

I agree. It screws fans who travel to games.

It wouldn't impact me all that much because I am retired and drive up to games in Cleveland.

I do go to a few select away games that require I fly. I don't know how many have ever had to change flight plans, but it is a pain in the butt and usually expensive as well.

You can't flex from one date to another. Period.

This is incredibly bad for clubs who try to take bus trips to games. If the game moves from one o'clock to four, it is a very different outing. Changing days would demand refunds and the club would lose money.

We have given up our club trip overall. Lack of tickets in groups is difficult. We have moved from Dawg Pound seats to some of the worst nosebleeds, and it is physically difficult. Also the loss of parking for our bus or two is an issue.

This has nothing to do with bettering fan experience in my experience. Raising the prices just cemented a number of things for us, or at least for me.

Should have already been done years ago. I don't want to see stinkers on MNF.

And I don't want to change my flight, hotel and make twenty other arrangements to go see a game.

There is a near full schedule every week from which to choose their "marquee match-up". Sometimes they choose the "stinker", that's on them. Their overpaid broadcasters and billion dollar marketing departments will have to find a way to sell it.

Every time a game is flexed, there are four cities and their fans rearranging plans. Bad enough when it's on the same day, nevermind the fact that Monday is a work day for most humans.

It seems to me that those who buy season tickets and travel by air or long distances to games are the fans who invest the most money of all fans.

For some reason I'm not surprised that the NFL would stick it to those fans the most. And that's exactly what this does.

If you live locally, changing your plans is far easier. For people like myself who live far away and watch the Browns on Sunday ticket, it's even easier to adjust to such a change.

The most dedicated fans pay the biggest price and there's something seriously wrong with that.

I initially had the same reaction as BpG, but I think you're right on this one. It's simply unfair to those that already made travel plans.

Unless the NFL will reimburse the traveling fans for their troubles, which has a 0% chance of happening, I can't get behind this concept.

Plan the schedule better.

For me personally,

Would I prefer more competitive/marquee games on MNF? Of course, if I'm sitting at home watching.

As a STH that lives locally, if the Browns get flexed to MNF from Sunday, it's a minor inconvenience with kids on a school night and if just my wife and I go, having to get one of the grandparents come over and get the boys to bed and stick around until we get home isn't always convenient.

If I'm traveling from out of state and have flight and hotel arrangements? What a complete nightmare for the fans. That's horrible to do to those fans, particularly, the ones with flights already booked.

Having said that, ESPN's right to broadcast MNF expire after the 2021 season. Guaranteeing networks more marquee matchup via the ability to flex games to MNF will allow the NFL to negotiate an even larger deal than the $1.9B ESPN pays annually to the NFL. The NFL will not care about inconveniencing the fans that travel over money in their pocket.

The NFL needs to do a better job of finding better match-up to please you.

It does create logistics problems for traveling fans.

Even flexing in to Sunday night can create problems for traveling fans or local fans. You plan on a afternoon game and have a 5:30 AM flight out of Cleveland. No big deal if you can go to bed by 8-9PM. It is a big deal when you aren't getting back to your room until 1AM.

Same for locals. You promised the kids a game, it gets switched and they have to get up and go to school Monday morning, or you start your job early AM.

I don't think they should flex anything but can live with the Sunday flex. No way you can change the day of the game.

It should not be surprising that the NFL values it's at home audience over the audience in the stadium.

True, but the individual owners should. They get to keep that money minus the travel team cut.

Move London games around, too. Self-serving choices.

I guess they need the money for their talking heads and expert mansplainers. Adds so very little in almost all cases.

This idea would have been perceived as preposterous 20 years ago. NFL could care less about fans who pay to see games in person. The in-person fan experience at an NFL game has declined to the point of being pathetic with all the ads and tv time outs. If you don't believe this you were not going to games during the 70s and 80s before tv money became the nfl's criterion for "success."

Greed ruins to goose who lays the golden eggs...

Move the Super Bowl to Saturday while you are at it!

I don't really understand this one. Do people need to get that hammered for the Super Bowl? Sure, if your team was playing I could understand. Win and you celebrate all night or lose and you drown your sorrows. For the rest of the country, are people getting that bombed to necessitate a move to Saturday?

The NFL won't because Sunday is their day and it's tradition. Plus, if they moved it to Saturday, people have Saturday plans. They'll get the largest ratings number on Sunday night.

Plus, Saturday is college football day. The NFL isn't going to mess with their minor league.



I watch college football. The NFL, very little other than Browns. I think the NFL would lose the ratings if pitted against college football on Saturday.

Since when is college football in February?!?

Super Bowl needs to be Saturday... look I didn't drink at all during the game... but it's a huge party... lots of food... late night game... and no one wants to go to work afterwards.... move It to Saturday.....

That is not a bad argument. Worth considering.

Not to mention school-age fans who have to get to bed Sunday night. Old farts can figure that out...kids...not so much.

I agree , I have to get up at 2AM to go to work, I really cant party or in some cases even watch the SB

It would be disappointing if they ever moved the super bowl to Saturday or any other day for that matter.