Creating the NFL Schedule | NFL Football Operations

GAME TIMES AND BROADCAST PARTNERS

The league’s six broadcast partners (CBS, Fox, NBC, NFL Network, ESPN and Prime Video) all want each week’s best matchups to air on their networks so they can attract the largest audiences. 

The NFL’s marquee matchups often are scheduled to air during the week’s premier time slots — Thursday, Sunday or Monday nights or the late game on Sunday afternoons. The league typically schedules the Super Bowl champion at home for the Thursday night game that kicks off the new season.

The league will also schedule games on the Saturdays of Weeks 15 and 18. In Week 15, three of the five designated matchups will be played on Saturday with the remainder being played on Sunday. Specific dates and start times for the designated Week 15 matchups will be determined and announced later during the season.

In Week 18, two games will be played on Saturday with the remainder being played on Sunday. Specific dates, start times, and networks for Week 18 matchups will be determined and announced following the conclusion of Week 17.

Additionally, the regular Sunday afternoon slate of Week 16 games will be played on Saturday due to Christmas falling on a Sunday. Christmas Eve will also feature an NFL Network primetime game, followed by a tripleheader on Christmas Day.

Most NFL games are played on Sunday afternoons, with early games starting at 1:00 p.m. ET and the late games starting at either 4:05 p.m. ET or 4:25 p.m. ET, depending on whether the game is part of a network doubleheader.

The Sunday afternoon games are broadcast on Fox (NFC) and CBS (AFC); most games with AFC road teams are shown on CBS, and most of those with NFC road teams are broadcast on Fox.

Deeper Dive: Learn more about television’s impact on the NFL

The season will open and close with doubleheaders on both CBS and FOX and every market will see four Sunday afternoon games in Weeks 1 and 18. Over Weeks 2–17, Fox and CBS will each have eight doubleheaders. In those weeks, one network will show games in both Sunday afternoon time slots, while the other will air only one game in either of the two time slots. Doubleheader weeks generally alternate between networks, but not always. It is possible for one network to have doubleheaders on consecutive weeks, but not three weeks in a row.

For the first time since 1994, the NFL will add a new live game broadcast partner. Prime Video will become the new exclusive Thursday night partner, marking the first time an NFL broadcast partner has been a digital provider.