NFL reportedly considering adding additional Thursday games (to boost poor ratings)

[JonLP24]

The NFL may add additional Thursday night games in the future, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the league's strategy, reported Tuesday that the league is weighing selling a second slate of Thursday games to a media outlet to pair with its existing 13-game slate on NFL Network.

The league isn't discussing specific terms with any media outlets, nor have any formal offers been exchanged, according to the report. But the person told the Wall Street Journal the NFL is disappointed the Thursday night games on NFL Network haven't earned better ratings.

The league's prevailing thought, according to the report, is that frequent Thursday doubleheaders could generate more interest.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9831976/nfl-reportedly-considering-adding-additional-thursday-games

[joeybee12]

1. I hate Thursday games...

It just doesn't seem right.

[Broken_Hero]

2. I don't hate them

but wish they were on Friday nights to give the teams an extra day to recover from their Sunday game. Also wish they were on UHF instead of the NFL network.

[joeybee12]

3. I don't know anyone who has the NFL Network...

The only times I catch them are if I'm in one of the casinos (I work in Vegas) and one of the bars has the game on

[Broken_Hero]

4. Same here,

"I don't know anyone who has the NFL Network"....

I only catch highlights online.

[JonLP24]

5. Only time I catch the games is when the Cardinals play

which will be tomorrow night when they play Seahawks

[Broken_Hero]

7. don't be afraid,

the Cards look pretty tough to me, saw a couple of their games this year and I think their game tomorrow is going to be pretty close, 3-5 points I bet. Fwiw, I am a Seachicken fan.

[JonLP24]

8. I agree

Cardinals are loaded w/ talent, especially on D. They also may have finally found their Bolden replacement in Michael Floyd.

But I think the Seahawks are scary for any team, they are currently the #1 most efficient team. -- http://www.advancednflstats.com/2013/10/team-efficiency-rankings-week-6.html

Good thing they're at home on a short break, should help.

[madinmaryland]

11. Hmm. I had it on FIOS and now have it on Time Warner in Ohio.

[joeybee12]

12. I don't know you!

[madinmaryland]

13. Wait. I thought you did.

[joeybee12]

14. Wait, you're right!

[frylock]

18. i have it, but i don't watch the games..

unless I happen to be out for a beer at my local hang.

[joeybee12]

19. Some really awful games so far this year...

Even the Pats-Jets game was awful, although there was a good outcome!

[JonLP24]

20. "Thursdays are 6.3 percent less exciting."

Friend of ANS Aaron Gordon used the Excitement Index (EI) and Combeback Factor (CBF) to find out if the Thursday night games really are more boring than most games. From Aaron's article at Sports on Earth:

What NFL Network games have sorely missed are big comebacks. NFL Network games average a Comeback Factor 3.32 -- half the league average -- and only five games with a CBF of 5 or above (where the winning team had a win probability below 20 percent). By definition of the win probability model, 20 percent of the games played should feature a comeback with a CBF of 5 or above (which the larger data set confirms). For NFL Network games, its only 13 percent. For comparison, Monday night games --which often feature hand-picked matchups -- have an average CBF of 8.15, but are right about where they should be in terms of CBF games of 5 or above: 23 percent.

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/61721290/

[RockaFowler]

6. They are the worst

2 Games a night would be horrible!!

The other idea I heard today was that they wanted to air some of the games on Netflix only. Are they out of their minds??

[joeybee12]

15. Seriously? Netflix?

They're nuts!

[KamaAina]

9. They should replace the bye week

the short week sucks. And causes injuries.

Say Sunday is the 1st of the month. Instead of a bye week, a team would play Sunday the 1st, then Thursday the 12th, then again Sunday the 22nd, back on schedule.

[joeybee12]

16. Bye weeks are about extending the season, and

increasing revenue...injuries be damned!

[ScreamingMeemie]

10. NFL tweeted today that they are not considering this.

Never have been.

[JonLP24]

21. Could have been a trial balloon

[frylock]

17. they just need to put a bullet in the brain of thursday night football..

some of the worst matchups that I can ever recall.