The NFL is considering flex scheduling for Thursday Night Football. Flex scheduling will become a thing on Monday night, which has its own issues, but adding it for Thursday night brings even more issues.
Nevertheless, it’s something that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wants, and if the NFL owners vote for that, it will happen. One NFL owner went public with his disapproval of Thursday flex scheduling, and he didn’t hold back.
New York Giants owner John Mara spoke out against Thursday Night Football flex scheduling, calling it “abusive.”
Giants’ John Mara is “adamantly opposed” to TNF flex scheduling proposal pic.twitter.com/JIUoo5kTec
— Charlotte Carroll (@charlottecrrll) March 29, 2023
The clip starts with Mara mid-conversation, but he said, “Our season ticket holders, to people who fly in our stadiums every week, people have gotten used to going from Sunday afternoon to Sunday night, that doesn’t mean they like it. This year, we can be flexed to Monday night, which I think is really inconsiderate. To flex a game back to Thursday night to me is abusive, and I am adamantly opposed to it. Fortunately, it didn’t get enough votes today, but it’ll probably be revisited in May.”
NFL owners may not have voted on flex scheduling, but they approved one crucial rule that’s needed for Thursday night flex scheduling. Teams are now able to play a maximum of two games on Thursday, not including Thanksgiving and the opening week. The flex proposal vote was tabled to May to provide for more discussion on the topic.
Moving a game from Sunday to Thursday or Thursday to Sunday brings issues for many groups. The NFL may be a behemoth and feel like they can do anything they want despite inconveniencing many people. That might be put to the test if this passes.
For the Thursday night flex scheduling proposal to pass, 24 out of 32 NFL owners must vote to approve. Mara’s strong statement against it makes it a very strong possibility he’s voting ‘nay’ in May.
