NFL Week 16: Why is there a Saturday NFL doubleheader in the heart of first round of CFP?

The NFL is giving fans a rare treat this weekend with games on Saturday for the first time in the 2024 season. For the next three Saturdays, the NFL will host at least two games (Week 17 has a tripleheader) — the first time the league has played on three consecutive Saturdays in consecutive years since 2005 and 2006 (the league played on three straight Saturdays last year). 

In recent years, the NFL has held a Saturday tripleheader in December and a Saturday doubleheader in Week 18. This is part of the league’s current television agreement, which calls for a Saturday tripleheader with NFL Network and a flex Saturday doubleheader in Week 18 on ESPN/ABC having matchups with playoff implications. 

So what is with the change from two Saturdays to three? The NFL has decided to play games on Christmas for the fifth consecutive season, but there is a catch with the holiday this year. Christmas falls on a Wednesday and the NFL has typically shied away from playing games on a Wednesday, until the league landed a $150 million deal from Netflix to broadcast Christmas games this year. Netflix and the NFL also reached an agreement to broadcast Christmas games in each of the next three seasons. 

Under the terms of the Netflix deal, the NFL will have two games on Christmas this season and “at least” one Christmas Day game in 2025 and 2026 (Christmas falls on Thursday in 2025 and Friday in 2026 in those years). How will the league handle these Christmas Day games on a Wednesday, a day typically absent on the NFL calendar and falls in the middle of the week?

Here’s where the Saturday games come into play. The four teams that will play on Christmas (Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens) will all play on Saturday to have the same turnaround as these teams would have from a Sunday afternoon game to a Thursday night game — three days between games. 

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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-week-16-why-is-there-a-saturday-nfl-doubleheader-in-the-heart-of-first-round-of-cfp/

Author : Jeff Kerr

Publish date : 2024-12-21 14:55:00

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