Saturdays could be for the NFL this fall, if college football doesn’t play, The Post has learned.
With the NFL expected to release its schedule soon, its officials have discussed giving the league some flexibility to move games to Saturdays this fall if college football postpones its entire season, according to sources.
The NFL has had preliminary discussions with its broadcast partners about the idea. An NFL spokesman declined comment.
While the majority of the week’s schedule would remain on Sundays, along with the primetime Monday and Thursday slates, some stand-alone games could be reset for Saturdays.
The NFL will only consider the move if there is no college football. It is still unclear if college football will be played this fall because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The college game has more uncontrollable variables than the NFL starting with the fact that the players aren’t true professionals. If students aren’t on campus in the fall, it is hard to see how football players could be asked to compete. Crowd attendance is also more important for the majority of college programs’ bottom lines than it is to the NFL.
While the NFL is much better positioned to deal with the pandemic as a professional league, it is still trying to figure out how it would put on its games. That is NFL executives’ first concern.
But the Saturday plan makes a lot of sense as it would create an open TV window for the NFL. The NFL already schedules Saturday games after the college regular season concludes in December.
The NFL could go to more extremes if Saturday is freed up for its whole season. It could have a triple-header with games at 1 p.m., 4:30 and 8, or just have one Saturday game of the week.
The whole idea is in its infancy as there are so many unpredictable factors the NFL has to determine.
If college suspends play in the fall, there may be an open path for the NFL to figure out Saturdays. For example, if the NFL plays its season without fans in the stadiums, then the idea of inconveniencing attendees by shifting games from Sunday to Saturday would be a non-factor.
The rest between games for players would only be shifted by one day, though,the league would have to make sure it doesn’t have issues with the Thursday and Monday short weeks.
By the record numbers for the NFL draft telecasts, there will be a hunger for football when it is played again. If Saturdays are open, the NFL could fill the void and it likely could charge its partners, like NBC, CBS, Fox and ESPN, more to broadcast these games. The networks would have the available slots open with college not playing.
It is an interesting idea that won’t be resolved when the schedule is announced by May 9, but the NFL likely will give itself some flexibility.