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Peter King: NFL Confident In Opening Night Ratings Jump No Matter Who Chiefs Play

“The NFL has a lot of network mouths to feed, and could use KC games versus the Eagles, Bills and Bengals as tentpole events for the NBC, CBS and ESPN schedules.”

Jordan Bondurant

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We’re still a few months away from the NFL announcing the full 2023 regular season schedule, but one of the questions lingering ahead of the start of the new season is who will the Kansas City Chiefs host on opening night.

The Chiefs will be the home team against the Bills, Bengals, Dolphins, Bears, Lions and Eagles in addition to their usual AFC West matchups.

In Peter King’s Football Morning in America newsletter on Monday, there’s speculation that we could see a Super Bowl rematch on opening night between the Chiefs and Eagles. But King wrote that if the NFL goes with that, it would be a bit of a surprise as the league obviously wants to preserve some matchups for the defending champs for other prime TV windows.

“The NFL has a lot of network mouths to feed, and could use KC games versus the Eagles, Bills and Bengals as tentpole events for the NBC, CBS and ESPN schedules,” King wrote. “Maybe Eagles-KC on an October Sunday night on NBC, Bengals-KC on a CBS doubleheader game in a November Sunday late-afternoon window, and Bills-KC as the highlight of the ESPN slate.”

King mentioned that the NFL usually tends to keep certain marquee matchups off the opening night slate. But the NFL does want the best possible ratings for the first regular season game of the year. So regardless of who the Chiefs line up against in September, the league seems confident that it will do well with viewers.

“One league person told me something to keep in mind about the opener: In the last two years, the NFL put ratings-drivers on opening night—and the one thing the league won’t want is a headline a day or two after the game reading, Ratings down 11 percent for NFL opener,” King wrote. “However, the fact that the 2022 game drew an audience of a modest (for an opener) 21.3 million for the non-competitive Bills-Rams game probably means the NFL will get an increase even if Kansas City’s foe is not the Bengals, Bills or Eagles.”

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Mike Florio: The NFL Will Have Games 7 Days a Week & Will Expand To Make it Happen

“So if you wanna increase the total number of games so you can have games Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Friday night, Saturday night, at some point you need more teams to get more games.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Could you picture NFL games on every night of the week from September to January? ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio thinks it’ll happen in his lifetime.

In an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday, Florio said it’s inevitable that we’ll see the league play games every night.

“I think sooner than later we’re gonna have Tuesday Night Football, we’re gonna have Wednesday Night Football,” he said. “It’s gonna be hopefully in my lifetime a seven day a week, primetime event. There’s too much money to be made.”

“I would love to have football on every night of the week,” Florio added. “It would be nice to have a night or two off. Like Friday night and Saturday night would be nice, but I’d be fine with Tuesday and Wednesday.”

How does Florio think the NFL will get to the point of playing seven days a week during the season? Expansion. And the league has already expressed interest in establishing franchises in Europe.

“I think they’re gonna start moving that number from 32 to in time 34, 36, 38 eventually 40,” Florio said. “Quarterbacks is the key. Is there ever gonna be enough quarterbacks to have 40 NFL teams? But I think that would be the ultimate maximum number.”

Even McAfee added that an 18th NFL regular season game will be coming sooner rather than later. Florio said in order to justify the need for one more game, expansion is the answer.

“When it comes to the inventory, 18 games is the most they’re gonna get away with,” Florio said. “So if you wanna increase the total number of games so you can have games Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Friday night, Saturday night, at some point you need more teams to get more games.”

“If the money’s there to be made by the owners, they’ll deal with it,” he added.

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Nick Khan: We Hope Pat McAfee Wants To Do More With WWE

“The world is his oyster.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Pat McAfee continues to be on hiatus from his obligations to WWE. As the media star and father-to-be weighs options for the future of his daily sports show and other dealings, WWE’s CEO wants McAfee to keep wrestling in the mix.

Appearing on The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast, WWE CEO Nick Khan said with the company’s signature live event this weekend, WrestleMania, don’t expect McAfee to show up like he did in January at the Royal Rumble.

“We have no plans to have him there this weekend,” Khan said.

Co-host Andrew Marchand asked how WWE handles talks with McAfee, who is believed to be ending his relationship with FanDuel two years into a four-year $120 million contract. WWE has a relationship with NBCUniversal, with WWE Network and its massive library of content being absorbed into Peacock in 2021. McAfee has since been replaced at the SmackDown announce table by former WWE superstar Wade Barrett.

“The world is his oyster,” Khan said. “He’s 36 years old and look at his relevancy factor when you talk to young children, as I have two young children. When I talk to them it’s often McAfee, McAfee, McAfee. That’s what’s in the wheelhouse for them. So if you look at any of the traditional buyers, what do they want? They want a young, diverse audience. What does McAfee bring? He brings a young, diverse audience.”

Khan noted how McAfee tends to not get overly political or controversial with his show and how he’s developed relationships with athletes like Aaron Rodgers and gives them a platform to speak freely without condemnation.

“He’s not looking to annihilate anybody, or crucify them,” he said. “He’s looking to have good content, and his content has been terrific. He’ll determine ultimately where he wants his home to be. And our hope is that he does more with us.”

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Diamond Sports Group Makes Rights Payment to San Diego Padres

Earlier reports on the matter claimed that Bally Sports San Diego loses $20 million per season on the current deal with the Padres.

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Diamond Sports Group has reportedly made its rights fee payment to the San Diego Padres, which averted triggering a clause in the contract that would revert the clubs television rights back to MLB.

Earlier this month, Diamond Sports Group — which operates the Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks — admitted it had not paid the Arizona Diamondbacks. Reports then surfaced that in bankruptcy proceedings, the company would look to get out of its contracts with the Padres, Cincinnati Reds, and Cleveland Guardians in addition to the Diamondbacks.

Earlier reports on the matter claimed that Bally Sports San Diego loses $20 million per season on the current deal with the Padres.

During a Wednesday appearance on 97.3 The Fan, the team’s flagship radio home, Padres CEO Erik Greupner said he had been given assurances that payment would be given to the team before the grace period deadline eclipsed, which was at 11:59 PM tonight.

San Diego’s Opening Day is tomorrow, and had the cable channel failed to make its payment, MLB has previously said it would step in to produce and distribute any games that had seen disruptions due to the downfall of either the Bally Sports or AT&T SportsNet regional sports networks.

Sports Business Journal reports Diamond Sports Group was motivated to make its rights fee payment to the Padres due to the team’s likelihood of on-field success in 2023. With star players like Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto, Xander Bogaerts, and Yu Darvish, the team is expected to be a World Series contender.

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