NFL increasing number of Thursday night games.

Updated: February 3, 2012, 1:46 PM ET
All NFL teams will get prime-time slot
ESPN.com news services


INDIANAPOLIS -- The NFL is increasing the number of Thursday night games so more of its teams can play in prime time.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said that there will be Thursday night games on the NFL Network from the second to the 15th week of the season, giving all of the league's teams a chance to appear in prime time on some outlet.

Those games will be in addition to the usual Sunday night and Monday night games, which tend to feature teams coming off good seasons.

Goodell revealed the television scheduling change at his state of the NFL news conference Friday.

He sidestepped a question about expanding the regular season schedule, saying it's something that would have to be evaluated along with the players.

Goodell also said the NFL will continue its work toward preventing concussions and other injuries and that what's been done so far is only a starting point.

Goodell said the league has done "a great deal" to make the game safer for players, and that will remain a priority. He said the league is "not done yet" and will not quit trying to make the game less dangerous for those who play it. The league is expanding its use of sideline TV replays to help doctors.


(Read More:) http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7537208/nfl-adding-more-thursday-games-schedule-commissioner-roger-goodell-says

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I'm not a big fan of this. I have to work early in the mornings and staying up late more often than I already have to to watch games will suck. I also think over-saturation of football could lead towards turning fans off as opposed to increasing interest. Between this, lame rule changes to promote too much offense, over-fining of players for hard hits, and overseas games, Goodell is doing his utmost best to kill an already insanely popular sport/league. When will this egomaniac learn that his unhealthy and obsessive need to place his personal stamp on the NFL is leading it down a destructive and harmful path?

There wasn't a Thursday night game (including our's) that I found the least bit exciting all year. Always boring. Terrible matchups a majority of the time.

bayz101 wrote:

There wasn't a Thursday night game (including our's) that I found the least bit exciting all year. Always boring. Terrible matchups a majority of the time.

I think another factor in that is the fact it's in the middle of the work week and people have a tougher time getting excited about the game because they are worn out. At least on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays they have some down time to prepare for the emotional ups and downs and top get fired up beforehand.

I agree, though. Most Thursday night games are absolutely dreadful match-ups.

I don't have NFL Network, and I live in Ohio, so Steelers games are hard to come by. I find myself watching games online quite often.

BGSU A Dub wrote:

bayz101 wrote:

I don't have NFL Network, and I live in Ohio, so Steelers games are hard to come by. I find myself watching games online quite often.

Sports bars?

I head out to the Buffalo Wild Wings or Hooters every now and then, but it's Ohio. Fucking Browns fans

BGSU A Dub wrote:

But it's so fun to watch them get salty every week (along with Bengals fans) while they are losing and we are winning. At BGSU, a lot of students come from Cleveland, so there are MASSIVE amounts of Browns fans.

And why do they go to the sports bars? Their game is on regular television.

Had a Falcons scout come out during this past season and scout a game against Ashland. I threw 3 picks

Buddha Bus wrote:

Goodell is doing his utmost best to kill an already insanely popular sport/league.

You don't realize how right you are. In the mid to late 80s and early 90s, the NBA was wildly popular. Jordan, Bird, and Magic brought the league pretty damn close to the level of popularity that the NFL had. Then David Stern started fucking with it in an effort to expand the popularity. He started catering to Europe and other markets. They played games overseas. Then there was an influx of players coming from Europe and other countries. I remember a few consecutive drafts where I couldn't even pronounce the names of half of the players picked in the first half of Round 1. Not only did fans lose interest because there was an influx of players they'd never heard of, but the game itself changed. And fans started to leave and the NBA's popularity plummeted. I see something similar happening with the NFL right now. The NFL is wildly popular. But they're going to get greedy. And in their attempt to cater to overseas markets, they're going to drive away a lot of fans they already have. There's a basic rule to any business ... don't drive off the customers you already have in an effort to attract new customers.

BGSU A Dub wrote:

This could be good though. As long as it doesn't mean more Thursday night games for the Steelers. By having more games on Thursday nights, there is a higher probability that the Steelers could be on TV on Sundays in some of our local areas. Just a thought.

I live in Ohio, but I live about 5 minutes from the Pennsylvania border. I get all but maybe four Steelers games a year. You and Bagz just live in the wrong part of Ohio.

You people better quit complaining. I live all the way out here in Cali-f*cking-fornia and I RARELY get to see the games. I have to call my sisters and get play-by-play action and their analysis of the game!

Gingerchip wrote:

You people better quit complaining. I live all the way out here in Cali-f*cking-fornia and I RARELY get to see the games. I have to call my sisters and get play-by-play action and their analysis of the game!

We could have hooked you up with live streaming.

Wallace108 wrote:

Gingerchip wrote:

You people better quit complaining. I live all the way out here in Cali-f*cking-fornia and I RARELY get to see the games. I have to call my sisters and get play-by-play action and their analysis of the game!

We could have hooked you up with live streaming.

Yep. I'm the King of Live Streaming!