The NFL has made it a point to highlight Thursday Night Football games for the upcoming 2023 season. NFL owners passed a resolution on flex scheduling the package on Monday. Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis came out against the change prior to the vote.
The previous proposal was for flex scheduling to allow flex scheduling for TNF in Weeks 14 to 17. The original vote had a 22-8 margin in favor of Thursday flex scheduling with two teams abstaining. A total of 24 votes was needed to pass, so it was tabled for another vote happening Monday. It passed with a 24-8 margin, and would be in effect for Weeks 13-17.
Davis spoke with USA Today’s Jarrett Bell on Monday where he revealed that he would “absolutely not” support the flex scheduling proposal.
“Just make the schedule and play it,” David told Bell during a break at the NFL’s Owner Meetings on Monday. “If you have a Raiders-Chargers game in Las Vegas scheduled for a Thursday. And all of the fans driving from Los Angeles – the Raiders fans and all three Chargers fans – buy their tickets and book their hotels, how in the **** do you schedule it and now say, ‘Sorry, it’s now on Sunday?’ How in the **** do you do that?”
With the resolution passed, the exact scenario that Davis visualized could happen. The Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers are scheduled to play on Thursday night in Week 15.
Davis is not the only NFL owner who feels that passionately against the proposal. New York Giants owner John Mara previously called the idea “abusive.”
While the idea of flexing is great for the NFL in terms of getting the best matchups on primetime, it would certainly be difficult for fans who have already bought tickets for said game.
Mara and Davis clearly were not able to gather enough support to turn back this proposal yet again.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.