The NFL commissioner said he is not putting the interests of television before the players.
Roger Goodellcommissioner of the NFLdenied that the league’s proposal that, starting this year, any team could be scheduled to play twice a season in Thursday night games that would be broadcast on Amazon, is abusive.
“There’s nobody in the league who doesn’t put our fans first. We’re not putting Amazon above anybody else. The players have their views, the coaches have theirs; we have to try to balance everything, but there’s no abuse in it”, explained Goodell.
Until the 2022 season, teams could only be scheduled for one Thursday night season game, something the NFL you want to change and that you are not convinced for two reasons.
The first is the rest time that the teams have between Sunday and Thursday, which only gives them practically three days off, which can cause more injuries.
The second has to do with the NFL will be able to move a main game scheduled for Sunday to Thursday, with 15 days’ notice, to ensure more attractive duels in the transmission that Amazon has since August of last year.
Before Goodell will speak at a press conference during the annual meeting of owners of the NFL, John Maraco-owner of the New York Giantsdescribed as abusive this new programming proposal that will be voted on next May at the spring league meeting.
“It really is inconsiderate to our season ticket holders and abusive,” he stressed. Mara.
That position was seconded by the quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Most Valuable Player of the 2022 season and Super Bowl LVII, which he won last February in front of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Roger Goodellwho closed the activities of this Tuesday’s meeting of league owners, defended the approach.
“We have always worked on data regarding injuries and the impact on players. I think the data is very clear and does not show a higher injury rate since the Thursday night games took place,” the commissioner explained.
The NFL opened the Thursday night games 12 years ago, during which, according to Goodellhave ensured the integrity of the players while offering a better show to the fans.
“We are judicious, careful and we look at all the impacts. It is very important to balance everything; we listen to the players, we take care of the fans who buy their season tickets, but also the millions of fans who watch the games on television,” he concluded. .
