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Morning Edition

May 15, 2025

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The NFL has just 272 games to work with—but in 2025, it’s making each one count. With more standalone windows, a bigger international slate, and star-powered matchups, the league is betting on bold scheduling to boost viewership.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]], and David Rumsey [[link removed]]

NFL Releases 2025 Schedule With Heavy Focus on Standalone Matchups [[link removed]]

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

There are only 272 games in the NFL regular-season schedule. Amid the roughly one quadrillion potential ways of arranging them, however, the league has landed on a 2025 slate designed to make each one of those games as unique and special as possible.

As planned for weeks [[link removed]], the NFL released its full 2025 schedule [[link removed]] Wednesday night, unveiling a slate that places more games than ever in exclusive broadcast windows. Among the moves to break more contests into individual slots beyond the existing windows on Sunday, Monday, and Thursday nights:

A larger-than-ever international schedule [[link removed]] of seven games, led by the Chiefs playing the Chargers in Brazil on Sept. 5 on YouTube and YouTube TV, as reported last week by Front Office Sports [[link removed]]. A heightened schedule of Saturday games in late December and early January, including an exclusive Fox doubleheader on Dec. 20 [[link removed]], and another twin bill on ESPN and ABC on Jan. 3, after the conclusion of the college football regular season. Some of those games, however, will compete for viewers with the expanded College Football Playoff. A streaming-focused Christmas tripleheader [[link removed]] involving both Netflix and Amazon.

The heightened separation of games is happening as the NFL saw regular-season ratings fall 2% last year [[link removed]] and is looking to have that not become a trend. NFL games, however, are also set to be a focal point of an expanded measurement methodology recently introduced by Nielsen [[link removed]], as they are top-rated programming in all of U.S. television.

The full drop of the schedule followed three days of pre-release announcements by Amazon [[link removed]], CBS [[link removed]], ESPN, Fox, and NBC [[link removed]], in addition to Netflix.

The Power of the Kingdom

As was the case last year [[link removed]], the NFL’s leaning heavily into the widespread appeal of the Chiefs, even as they were trounced by the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX.

As the league’s top viewership draw [[link removed]], Kansas City will play internationally in the season’s first week, on both Thanksgiving and Christmas, and also in five other standalone slots. Just four of the team’s 17 games start at 1 p.m. ET.

More Schedule Highlights

Not surprisingly, each of the NFL’s domestic rights holders touted the appeal of their respective schedules. Amazon will again have all 14 of the 2024 season’s playoff participants for its Thursday Night Football schedule, as well as 10 divisional matchups. CBS Sports will air up to nine Chiefs games, including a massive Nov. 2 matchup against the Bills, and up to nine for Buffalo and 11 for the Steelers. NBC Sports has eight Sunday Night Football games involving matchups of postseason participants last season. ESPN will have 25 total games, including 11 in the first seven weeks.

Fox will get the coveted Super Bowl LIX rematch between the Eagles and Chiefs in Week 2.

“The schedule is deep and well balanced, and something we see providing additional momentum as we look to build further audience,” Amazon Prime Video head of sports programming Jeff Kaiser tells FOS. “The big draw of divisional games provides a lot of upside, particularly late in the season.”

Social Media Frenzy

The Super Bowl for NFL players arrives in February, but for each team’s social media staff, that tentpole arrives on the day of the schedule release. This year was no exception as each of them sought to showcase their upcoming games.

Inventive displays of the schedule were developed by teams such as the Chargers [[link removed]], Titans [[link removed]], Ravens [[link removed]], Cardinals [[link removed]], and Falcons [[link removed]].

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NBA Injury Crisis Puts 82-Game Schedule Under New Scrutiny [[link removed]]

Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images

In a 15-day span, two NBA superstars suffered season-ending Achilles tears: Damian Lillard on April 27 and Jayson Tatum on Monday.

Six NBA players have ruptured an Achilles tendon this season, an injury with a recovery time of about a year. That’s on top of those who have torn their ACL, including Mavericks star Kyrie Irving, who has a similar recovery time.

Season-ending injuries aren’t necessarily new, and the risk comes with the territory in sports. However, this year’s regular season saw the most cumulative games missed due to injury or illness [[link removed]] (6,779) when excluding COVID-19-related absences, according to Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes.

There’s an argument that load management—which is when teams deliberately rest players—factors into the increased number of missed games. But the volume of players who have faced serious injuries in the era of load management shows a fundamental problem exists.

Lengthy Schedule

Many have posited that the NBA needs to shorten its 82-game schedule.

The league has cut down on games on back-to-back days or three games in four nights [[link removed]]. But in the past few years, the NBA has also added games through the play-in tournament and the Emirates NBA Cup. (Lillard played in the NBA Cup final, which was an 83rd game for the Bucks.)

Tatum, known before Monday’s injury as one of the most durable players in the league, played the most games of any NBA player since he was drafted eight years ago (706). Irving led the league in minutes [[link removed]] between the Luka Dončić trade on Feb. 1 until his injury on March 3.

Tough Sell

Any schedule change will need the approval of the owners. That will be a tall task because fewer games mean decreased gate revenue, and it may also lead to complications on local TV deals.

There’s a case that a shortened schedule would raise the value of each game, resulting in better ratings and more competitive games akin to the NFL. But each NFL team plays a 17-game regular season, a fifth of the games of an NBA team. The NBA would need to find a sweet spot that would bring enough of a viewership boost to justify the revenue decrease. Fans would also have to be ready to swallow an uptick in ticket prices for NBA games.

It’s a difficult business decision to throw at owners. In the meantime, the trickle-down effect appears to be dealt to the league’s players.

LIV Golf Exit Reignites Chacarra’s Passion—and PGA Tour Hopes [[link removed]]

Eastside Golf

CHARLOTTE — Eugenio Chacarra is all smiles and good vibes ahead of playing in his first PGA Championship, and first major since leaving LIV Golf after the 2024 season.

“It’s awesome,” Chacarra told Front Office Sports at Quail Hollow Club. “My time on LIV was great, but it’s something that I needed to change. It was kind of like a lack of motivation out there for me, and I’ve been enjoying life again. I’m enjoying golf.”

Chacarra, 25, made $9.12 million in individual prize money during three seasons on LIV, but he wasn’t able to earn Official World Golf Ranking points, and therefore played in only one major—last year’s U.S. Open. In January, he told [[link removed]] the Flushing It podcast, “On LIV, nothing changes, there is only money.”

“I’m very thankful for what LIV did for me—financially, experience, and everything,” he said this week. But the young Spaniard’s focus is now making it onto his former league’s rival circuit. “My goal has always been to play on the PGA Tour,” Chacarra said. “Right now, I’m obviously banned because of LIV until September, so I’m playing on the European Tour.”

Chacarra is referring to the PGA Tour’s rule that a player can’t play in one of its events until at least one year after they played in a LIV tournament. Chacarra won the Hero Indian Open in March and subsequently earned full DP World Tour status for the remainder of the season. He has a chance to earn a 2026 PGA Tour card by finishing in the top 10 of the DP World Tour’s points list this year. “Just go day by day, and good golf will take care of the rest,” he said.

Dress to Impress

Leaving LIV also meant the opportunity for Chacarra to pick his own clothes. As a former member of Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC, Chacarra was required to wear the team uniform.

Chacarra has traded that for a new apparel deal with Eastside Golf, an emerging clothing company [[link removed]] created by two former HBCU national champion golf stars.

“They always want to help people, and I’m always wanting to grow the game—help people that don’t have the access to play golf and hopefully I can be the image of Eastside for a long time,” Chacarra said.

While Chacarra will be wearing Eastside’s logo on his shirts this season, he’ll still be wearing a Golf Saudi hat, as his contract for that headwear deal runs through the end of this year.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS LIVE

What’s Next in Sports Media?

We’re in a golden age for sports media. Live games are the most-watched programs on TV. Women’s sports are exploding. Giant streamers are joining the party. And sports documentaries have never been hotter properties.

But the landscape is shifting beneath our feet. The cable TV bundle that supported national and local sports TV media rights for decades is under severe pressure. The NFL could opt out early from its $111 billion media deals. And talent like Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee are launching their own companies, demanding more autonomy.

Join us in New York City this September for Tuned In [[link removed]], where we’ll sit down with leaders in sports media—from athletes and on-air talent to media moguls and league executives—to discuss where we are heading in the world of sports media.

Register now [[link removed]].

Conversation Starters Patrick Mahomes is hosting a Sunday Funday at an Airbnb in Kansas City. Guests will be able to play beer pong, plus football and golf challenges with the star quarterback. Take a look [[link removed]]. The Chargers will travel the most miles among any NFL team in the 2025 season (37,086), while the Bengals will fly the fewest (8,753). Check out the full list [[link removed]]. Get a first look [[link removed]] at Nicolas Cage and Christian Bale, who play John Madden and Al Davis, respectively, in the upcoming movie Madden. Editors’ Picks Trump NIL Commission Co-Chair Nick Saban: ‘Not Sure We Really Need’ Commission [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]The details of the commission are murky, even to Saban. FIA Finally Backs Off From F1 Swearing Crackdown [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Drivers and FIA bosses have feuded over cursing for months. Rights Groups Sound Alarm on Saudi Worker Deaths Ahead of World Cup [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Saudi Arabia promised construction of 11 stadiums for the 2034 World Cup. Question of the Day

Should the NBA shorten the 82-game schedule?

YES [[link removed]] NO [[link removed]]

Wednesday’s result: 67% of respondents agree with MLB commissioner Manfred’s decision that lifetime league penalties should end with death.

Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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