DON’T GET ME STARTED eyeballed the NFL schedules released Thursday night and didn’t know whether to laugh or praise the NFL for getting ready to hit Congress and the FCC with complaints of poverty at the end of the season..
Art Wander
First of all, as I’ve stated before – I think a kid could stand a chance of making out a better schedule. After all, what genius decided to hit Buffalo with a schedule that finds them, in consecutive weeks, playing 5 of 6 games on the road and 2 home games after Xmas and New Year’s Eve?
Seeing the schedule, I deduced that it’s apparent the Pegulas won’t have much power in the NFL. And speaking of the NFL, I think they’re getting the message ready to send to Congress and the FCC who ruled that all games – whether sold out or not – will be televised in NFL markets…
Seeing so many NFL games scheduled in December and January in cold weather sites may give the NFL ammunition to show Congress and the FCC that fans will not attend games due to weather or other reasons. They will tell them that visiting teams lost money because they get a portion of ticket seals. They will say that concessions will suffer and teams will lose out on parking fees while scalpers might go broke. The NFL will come up with many reasons to convince Congress and the FCC to go back to the blackout rules that were in effect until the FCC and Congress prodded them to televise all games in NFL markets – sold out or not.
8 NFL games – 16 teams – will play on January 3 in cold weather cities. Of course, most teams will know where they will be in the standings and playoff positions and in all likelihood won’t have much to play for. That will be interesting to note as late November, then December and January hit those cities with cold weather and snowstorms.
Buffalo will have 2 December home games and one on Jan 3rd. The last two games of the season, at home, will be against the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Jets to finish the season. I would imagine that Dallas and New York will know where they will finish and maybe won’t have anything to play for.
Imagine if these teams played in Buffalo in the middle of the season, they would have drawn full houses. BUT since they are the last 2 games of the season – after Christmas and after New Years Day when Mother Nature will probably unleash its fury and force many fans to sit home and watch them on TV. I think it would be embarrassing to the Bills and the NFL to see many empty seats when the game is on the tube.
In cold weather cities like Buffalo (with outdoor playgrounds) the NFL has scheduled 8 January 3rd games in cold weather markets. Here’s the games that will be played in those markets in December and January
BUFFALO………………Jan 3, Dec 27, Dec 6
CLEVELAND………….Jan 3, Dec 13, Dec 6
GREEN BAY…………. Jan 3, Dec 13
DENVER……………….Jan 3, Dec 29, Dec 13
KANSAS CITY……….Jan 3, Dec 27, Dec 13
NY GIANTS…………..Jan 3, Dec 26, Dec 6
NEW ENGLAND…..Jan 3, Dec 20
CHICAGO BEARS…Jan 3, Dec, 13, Dec 6
PITTSBURGH………Dec 20, Dec 6
PHILADELPHIA…..Dec 26, Dec, 20, Dec 6
NY JETS……………….Dec 27, Dec. 13
That’s 29 games played in cold weather cities in December and January. At that time, when checking the reviews of the games, it will be very interesting to note the attendance figures. I’m sure the NFL will also be looking at the number of fans who turned out in what might be blustery conditions and the number who stayed home to watch the games on TV.
The ones who will be happy will be sponsors and commercials that will be viewed in cities where the games did not sell out. Then will come the negotiations between the NFL and the FCC and Congress on Don’t Get Me Started.
Filed under: Don't Get Me Started
Tagged with: Congress, FCC, NFL
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