Recent NFL Changes
The NFL made some recent changes to their regular season and playoff format. Since 1978, the NFL played a 16-game regular season schedule, with the exception of the truncated 1982 season that led to a transitory 16-team playoff for the 1982-83 season. The NFL also held a 12-team playoff format from 1990-2019. The top two teams in the AFC (American Football Conference) and NFC (National Football Conference) earn a first-round bye while the remaining four teams in the AFC and NFC battle it out in the wildcard round.
NFL Playoff Expansion and 17-Game Schedule
In March 2020, the players union and the NFL approved the playoffs to expand to 14 teams and extend the regular season to 17 games. The preseason was downsized to three games to accommodate the expanded regular season. The biggest reason for the approval is the revenue that comes out of the new regular season and playoff format. The start of the regular season remained on the Thursday after Labor Day. With a 17-game regular season, teams would finish the regular season on the first or second Sunday of January, with date ranges between Saturday Jan. 3-9 and Sunday Jan. 4-10.
In addition, the NFL also would change their Regular Season Finale Schedule. For Week 18, the NFL would schedule two games on the first or second Saturday of January as part of the NFL regular season finale. Both would air on ABC/ESPN, but one would kick off at 4:35PM EST and the second would kick off on 8:15PM EST. The rest of the Week 18 Sunday schedule would remain the same, where one game could be flexed to Sunday Night if there is enough incentive to warrant it.
NFL Goes to Streaming
The NFL also made Thursday Night games only available on Amazon Prime since 2022. Although NFL Thursday Night Games (from September-December) are streamed exclusively on Amazon Prime nationally, the streamed games are also locally simulcasted in each team’s media market depending on which team is playing on that Thursday night. This now also applies to Black Friday since the 2023 season and the NFL Wildcard Game since the 2024-25 NFL playoffs.
In addition, the NFL now occassionaly will stream an NFL game on Peacock. For teams that have their games streamed on Peacock, their corresponding local NBC channels will simulcast the Peacock games.
Simulcasts
You may wonder which media team’s local channels would the Amazon Prime games be televised on? If any two NFL teams play on Thursday Night (or have a game on Black Friday or have their wildcard game streamed), the channels that televise the games would happen in the following media market (depending on who is playing on Amazon Prime):
| AFC | NFC | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFL Team | TV Channel | Local Channel | NFL Team | TV Channel | Local Channel |
| Baltimore Ravens | ABC | WMAR | Atlanta Falcons | FOX | FOX 5 |
| Buffalo Bills | CBS | WIVB 4 | Arizona Cardinals | FOX | FOX 10 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | ABC | WCPO | Carolina Panthers | ABC | WSOC |
| Cleveland Browns | ABC | WEWS News 5 | Chicago Bears | FOX | WFLD 32 |
| Denver Broncos | ABC | KMGH-TV | Dallas Cowboys | FOX | KDFW |
| Houston Texans | FOX | KTXH | Detroit Lions | FOX | WUBK |
| Indianapolis Colts | ABC | WRTV-6 | Green Bay Packers* | NBC | NBC 26 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | FOX | FOX-30 | Los Angeles Rams | FOX | FOX 11 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | NBC | KSHB 41 | Minnesota Vikings | FOX | KSMP 9 |
| Las Vegas Raiders | ABC | KTNV 13 | New Orleans Saints | NBC | WDSU 6 |
| Los Angeles Chargers | FOX | FOX 11 | New York Giants | FOX | WNYW |
| Miami Dolphins | CBS | CBS 4 | Philadelphia Eagles | FOX | FOX29 |
| New England Patriots | FOX | WFXT | San Francisco 49ers | FOX | KTUV 2 |
| New York Jets | FOX | WNYW | Seattle Seahawks | FOX | FOX13 (Seattle) |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | ABC | WTAE4 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | FOX | FOX 13 (Tampa) |
| Tennessee Titans | CBS | WTVF 5 | Washington Commanders | FOX | WTTG FOX 5 |
For example, say the 49ers and the Eagles play on Thursday Night. Since both of those games air on FOX in the local San Francisco and Philadelphia markets, it means that FOX may not be available as a channel to kick off a college football Thursday Night playoff game. However, there are exceptions. For example, while the World Series happened in 2022, where the Phillies were playing against the Astros, Games 3-5 of the World Series games were moved over by one day after the original dates due to inclement weather in Philadelphia. The Eagles-Texans Thursday Night game was moved to the CW in Philadelphia and in Houston because Game 5 was moved to November 3, 2022 (the day the Eagles and Texans kicked off). Therefore, FOX was not available for those local markets.
In addition, the NFL Network late-Saturday regular season games would also be simulcasted on the local ABC, CBS, FOX, or NBC channels of the respective NFL teams’ media markets. The simulcast of NFL Network games is similar to the simulcast of the Amazon Prime streamed games. Any of the local TV market’s ABC, CBS, FOX, or NBC channels would simulcast the NFL Network games depending on which teams are playing. For example, if the Houston Texans and the LA Chargers played on Saturday at 4:30PM and it is on NFL Network, one of the local (ABC, CBS, FOX, or NBC) channels in Houston and Los Angeles would simulcast the NFL Network game on that given Saturday.
Current NFL Playoffs
The NFL playoffs would begin on the second weekend of January or, if January 1 or 2 falls on a Saturday, the third weekend of January, and would end on the second Sunday of February. Speaking of the playoffs, with the NFL expanding the playoffs to 14 teams, six wildcard games would kick off after the NFL regular season.
NFL Playoffs 2020-21
In the first 14-team playoff postseason (2020-21 NFL Playoffs), three games would kick off on Saturday and three more would kick off on Sunday. The 2020 season was the final season where all NFL teams played 16 regular season games. The following is how the NFL wildcard schedule looked when they first expanded the field to 14 teams:
| NFL Wildcard Weekend | Kickoff Date and Time | TV Network |
|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | Saturday Jan. 3 - 9 1:05PM EST | ESPN/ABC, CBS, FOX, or NBC |
| Game 2 | Saturday Jan. 3 - 9 4:40PM EST | |
| Game 3 | Saturday Jan. 3 - 9 8:15PM EST | |
| Game 4 | Sunday Jan. 4 - 10 1:05PM EST | |
| Game 5 | Sunday Jan. 4 - 10 4:40PM EST | |
| Game 6 | Sunday Jan. 4 - 10 8:15PM EST | NBC |
For the rest of the NFL Playoffs, the schedule kicked off at the following:
| Playoff Round | Kickoff Date and Time | TV Network |
|---|---|---|
| Divisional Round |
Saturday Jan. 10 - 16 at 4:35PM and 8:15PM EST Sunday Jan. 11 - 17 at 1:05PM and 4:40PM EST |
CBS, FOX, or NBC |
| Conference Championship Games | Sunday Jan. 18 - 24 at 3PM and 6:30PM EST |
AFC on CBS NFC on FOX |
| Super Bowl | Sunday Feb. 1 - 7 at 6:30PM EST | CBS, FOX, or NBC |
Since the 2021 NFL Season, teams played a 17-game regular season schedule. The following is how the NFL playoff schedule looked since the 2021-22 NFL playoffs:
Super Wildcard Weekend 2021-22 to present
Since the 2021-22 NFL Playoffs, one wildcard game kicked off on a Monday Night. The Monday Night Wildcard game would always air on ESPN/ABC, while the Sunday Night Wildcard Game always aired on NBC. In addition, since the 2024-25 playoffs, Amazon Prime streams one NFL playoff game. Therefore, the current format looks like the following:
| NFL Wildcard Weekend | Kickoff Date and Time | TV Network and Streaming |
|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | Saturday Jan. 10 - 16 4:30PM EST |
CBS/Paramount+, FOX/FOX One, OR NBC/Peacock |
| Game 2 | Saturday Jan. 10 - 16 8PM EST | Amazon Prime |
| Game 3 | Sunday Jan. 11 - 17 1PM EST |
CBS/Paramount+ OR FOX/FOX One |
| Game 4 | Sunday Jan. 11 - 17 4:30PM EST |
CBS/Paramount+ OR FOX/FOX One |
| Game 5 | Sunday Jan. 11 - 17 8PM EST | NBC/Peacock |
| Game 6 | Monday Jan. 12 - 18 8PM EST | ESPN/ABC/ESPN DTC |
The number one seeds in the AFC and NFC are now the only teams to earn a first-round bye. The Monday Wildcard winner would be guaranteed to play their Divisional Round game on Sunday of the next weekend.
Divisional Round
The Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs currently like the following:
| NFL Divisional Round | Kickoff Date and Time | TV Network and Streaming |
|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | Saturday Jan. 17 - 23 4:30PM EST |
One each on: ESPN/ABC/ESPN DTC CBS/Paramount+ FOX/FOX One NBC/Peacock |
| Game 2 | Saturday Jan. 17 - 23 8PM EST | |
| Game 3 | Sunday Jan. 18 - 24 3PM EST | |
| Game 4 | Sunday Jan. 18 - 24 6:30PM EST |
Conference Championships and Super Bowl
Finally, the final two rounds of the NFL Playoffs currently look like the following:
| NFL Championship Games | Kickoff Date and Time | TV Network and Streaming |
|---|---|---|
| AFC Championship Game | Sunday Jan. 25 - 31 3PM or 6:30PM EST | CBS/Paramount+ |
| NFC Championship Game | Sunday Jan. 25 - 31 3PM or 6:30PM EST | FOX/FOX One |
| Super Bowl | Sunday Feb. 8 - 14 6:30PM EST |
Either On: ESPN/ABC/ESPN DTC CBS/Nick/Paramount+ FOX/FOX One NBC/Peacock |
Potential Push to an 18-Game Schedule
The NFL once again is planning to adjust the regular season. The NFL is attempting to go into an 18-game regular season and is definitely something to monitor. It could happen sometime before the next NFL CBA agreement is reached.
Workarounds
With the proposed 32-team playoff schedule to start on the first weekend of December, we have more flexibility to workaround the NFL as this would only affect the National Championship game. You can learn more about this in the proposed kickoff dates and times.
NFL Draft Declarations
NFL Draft declarations for college players will also depend on the proposed schedule that would advance. Usually, the date to declare for the Draft would happen one week after the National Championship game. The date to declare for the draft will very likely depend on when the National Championship Game would be scheduled. Here is how the new NFL Draft Declarations deadline would look depending on the date of the National Championship Game:
| National Championship Game Date | Deadline to Declare for NFL Draft |
|---|---|
| Jan. 8 | Jan. 15 |
| Jan. 9 | Jan. 16 |
| Jan. 10 | Jan. 17 |
| Jan. 11 | Jan. 18 |
| Jan. 12 | Jan. 19 |
| Jan. 13 | Jan. 20 |
| Jan. 14 | Jan. 21 |
The National Championship Game date varies based on when New Year's Day falls and NFL scheduling considerations (see kickoff dates and times for details), which determines the corresponding draft declaration deadline.