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Flex scheduling for MNF


Greg S

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The author is correct. NFL fans have to live with a predetermined schedule and the risk of dud games or the inconvenience of travel and gameday that a switch from Sunday to Monday might cause.

It would be a nightmare for folks like me that have to travel long distances for a home or away game. Bills fans travel well and this change could make that harder. But given enough lead time it may be possible. 

I'm on the west coast, have a full time career that rarely gets me home before 6 or 630 pacific time. I rarely watch a game unless it is a great matchup.

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This would fundamentally be one of the worst most unfan friendly moves they could make. My wife and I had to cancel PIT because of the switch to night time with the way our travel worked, but at least that was just a time difference. Switching the day when thousands of fans come from out of town and plan financial decisions around that would be as awful idea as they come.

 

I get the NFL is hellbent on TV, but stadiums look awful when fans are not there. At some point they need to focus some efforts on the people ya know actually going to the games and not the TV side.

 

The better idea I heard was having MNF with more double headers or two games so you could swap for the better matchup.

 

I should also add the NFL wouldn't have this issue if they didn't schedule teams so repetitively ensuring that a bad season by the Giants Jets Eagles Bears etc.. insert major market will result in less people watching. The fact the Jets got soo many night games was hilariously bad last year, but I sadly expect the same again.

Edited by corta765
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Just now, atlbillsfan1975 said:

Teams that are winning would be flexed. They could move the game to a Monday morning, if the Bills were winning and in the hunt, the place would sell out. 

 

If the game was in Sept or Oct. Ravens game had tickets on secondary market for $30, not exactly our best showing.

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While I agree that it is exciting as a fan to have your team "flexed" to prime time and makes for better TV, flexing is a total screw job to the fans who purchase tickets.  As mentioned above, people pay for flights, book hotels, arrange for babysitters, etc. to attend a game, and with little notice, the entire thing can be switched around, potentially causing hundreds of dollars of loss for the traveling fan, if not only inconvenience.  With flights and hotels involved, the costs could easily exceed $1,000.

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37 minutes ago, Greg S said:

https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2020/02/10/monday-night-football-flex-scheduling

 

It wouldn't start until 2023 but that would suck for people attending the game.

 

The powers that be have ruined what was once the biggest & usually the best game of the week ! Everyone i knew after a hard day back to work on Monday couldn't wait to get home, eat dinner, pop open a beer & watch MNF it was a main stay in America for years !

 

Then some dum ass at ESPN decided "well lets move this game to ESPN" I don't know who's brain storm that was but that was the biggest demise of MNF ! 

 

Al & Chris saw the writing on the wall & jumped ship to NBC & so did all the MNF fans & ever since SNF has been the game of the week .

 

The thing that blows me away is our local "Football Expert" John Murphy said recently on his daily show that "the NFL isn't to the point of saturation & every move they have made has always brought more viewership or Fans" well Big John your expertise comes through once again because moving MNF was one of if not the stupidest thing ESPN /ABC has ever done for the game !! 

 

This flexing thing must be another one of the ideas from the same dum ass that decided to move MNF from ABC to ESPN can't see anything going wrong with this decision ?... 

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This is starting the  trend toward the stadiums really becoming TV studios.....and in 50  years, there won't be many fans there at all.  With the MEGABUCK TV fees, the income from the in house crowd is a negligible part of the revenue stream.  They are treating their number one income stream right (TV networks that is) and screwing with the smaller income stream.  Its good business stragedy, but lousy for the in stadium fans.

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Like most people, I love this idea until it inconveniences me! The big story though is the source saying Disney would move MNF to ABC and off ESPN. Would they really risk all that cord-cutting, not to mention a reduced lack of negotiating power with cable/satellite providers?

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2 hours ago, corta765 said:

This would fundamentally be one of the worst most unfan friendly moves they could make. My wife and I had to cancel PIT because of the switch to night time with the way our travel worked, but at least that was just a time difference. Switching the day when thousands of fans come from out of town and plan financial decisions around that would be as awful idea as they come.

 

I get the NFL is hellbent on TV, but stadiums look awful when fans are not there. At some point they need to focus some efforts on the people ya know actually going to the games and not the TV side.

 

The better idea I heard was having MNF with more double headers or two games so you could swap for the better matchup.

 

I should also add the NFL wouldn't have this issue if they didn't schedule teams so repetitively ensuring that a bad season by the Giants Jets Eagles Bears etc.. insert major market will result in less people watching. The fact the Jets got soo many night games was hilariously bad last year, but I sadly expect the same again.


Corta and Ethan, I couldn’t agree more.  It is somewhat myopic, if we had a great game coming up, and I fly all three kids, request vacation time for Friday and Monday morning.  I’m giving an example, but I’m sure there a ton more where it is significantly unfair for out of Towners, or even Buffalonians who may have to get up at 5 am for their jobs.  That would stink.  Owners, players and the NFL are going to make more than enough $ with an expanded schedule, which seems more and more like it might happen, and Direct TV loses exclusivity for streaming.  I can’t remember how many fans started a short thread of “Do any of you guys will show the Bills game in what European city, or just OUS.

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23 minutes ago, machine gun kelly said:


Corta and Ethan, I couldn’t agree more.  It is somewhat myopic, if we had a great game coming up, and I fly all three kids, request vacation time for Friday and Monday morning.  I’m giving an example, but I’m sure there a ton more where it is significantly unfair for out of Towners, or even Buffalonians who may have to get up at 5 am for their jobs.  That would stink.  Owners, players and the NFL are going to make more than enough $ with an expanded schedule, which seems more and more like it might happen, and Direct TV loses exclusivity for streaming.  I can’t remember how many fans started a short thread of “Do any of you guys will show the Bills game in what European city, or just OUS.

 

Yea it's tough because one of the best things the NFL did for fan interest was eliminating the blackout rule. It's weird to think just a decade ago that still happened frequently and it was a really archaic rule. I can't wait to tell my son that we use to not be able to watch the Bills because we didn't sell 500 tickets haha

 

But yea Amy Trask former president of the Raiders tweeted back and forth with me and her thoughts were if you move the games the least the NFL should do is refund all travel and game costs assuming you can prove the cost with receipt as a way to say to the fans we get our move hurt your experience. She is huge about fan experience and the fact the NFL needs to do more for the fans who actually go.

 

What you brought up about traveling and days off is my great fear if this comes true given how regularly the Bills do play on MNF which is at least once per season most of the time. Not being able to go to PIT was gut wrenching and in a sense it took away from watching them clinch knowing we should've been there. On the plus side we got our money back!

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Terrible idea for travelling fans. It was bad enough having to stay in Pittsburg an extra night when that game was flexed to Sunday Night. If it was flexed to Monday I would have had to back out. Fans make travel plans too far in advance and this would be brutal!

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