NFL Flexing Sunday Games to Thursday! Angering Fans! Could Bills be Next?

[mannc]

14 minutes ago, chongli said:

 

Only to the late time slot, since it was the best game for CBS. Buffalo won't get flexed to SNF or TNF.

Flexed, nonetheless.  They changed the time of the Bills-Pats game because it is more attractive than the previously scheduled late game(s).

[djp14150]

2 hours ago, Donuts and Doritos said:

(see article) NFL flexing Chargers Broncos a Sunday 1:00 game to Thursday Night for the 1st time ever. Leaves angry fans scrambling to either change plans to attend or sell their tickets. Seems NFL Owners have forgotten their fans in pursuit of $.

 

Putting NFL games exclusively on Peacock, adding black Friday and Xmas day games, talking about a London SB, now this. At what point is it a step too far? What can fans do to change it (boycott games)?

 

With how exciting Josh is to watch wouldn't be surprised if Bills fans fall victim to this sooner rather than later. So thought it was worth a topic to discuss. 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6002186/2024/12/18/chargers-broncos-tnf-flex-fans-upset?source=user-shared-article

 

they did clearly state flexing rules around late season games.  For a long time therr has been a possibility of moving game time on sundays.

 

thry woukd have a bigger issue if this was moved to Thursday 10 days ago, but they got 4 weeks notice.

 

therr has bern talk of a team outside thr US in Canada, Mexico, and London.

 

If a Super Bowl is in London the Super Bowl kick off would likely move to around 2 pm ET from 630 pm ET. I don’t see an issue with that.

 

if they did it out of Sydney ,they could do the kick off at 12 pm on Sunday ( local Sydney time) is 8 pm Sat ET and 5pm SAT PT

1 hour ago, skibum said:

I don't expect the NFL to flex any of the Bills' last three games against two unwatchable teams. 

They already flexed one of the 3 from 2 pm to 435p

 

if chiefs LL and Bills WW they likely move bills- pats to the early Saturday slot on espn with a bills win earning top seed/ bye

[DCofNC]

2 hours ago, RangerDave said:

Getting refunds for your tickets is one thing.  And even that is bad because people bought tickets for a reason.  But will they reimburse people for all the travel costs, since many people travel to follow their team?  What about the time off from work?  What an idiotic and thoughtless idea.

You know the answer to that, no chance. The thing is, until it hits their wallet, nobody is going to care.  The NFL absolutely abuses the privilege it has with its loyal fan base. It won’t last forever.

[chongli]

20 minutes ago, djp14150 said:

 

if chiefs LL and Bills WW they likely move bills- pats to the early Saturday slot on espn with a bills win earning top seed/ bye

 

No, since the Chiefs would have an advantage knowing the result of the Bills-Pats game. If the Bills lost, KC could get the number one seed with a win at Denver. If the Bills won, KC could rest their players. Both games would need to be 4:25 Sunday.

 

(For those who do not know, there is an early and late Saturday game in Week 18, teams TBD.)

Edited Thursday at 01:58 PM by chongli

[PetermansRedemption]

3 hours ago, Donuts and Doritos said:

(see article) NFL flexing Chargers Broncos a Sunday 1:00 game to Thursday Night for the 1st time ever. Leaves angry fans scrambling to either change plans to attend or sell their tickets. Seems NFL Owners have forgotten their fans in pursuit of $.

 

Putting NFL games exclusively on Peacock, adding black Friday and Xmas day games, talking about a London SB, now this. At what point is it a step too far? What can fans do to change it (boycott games)?

 

With how exciting Josh is to watch wouldn't be surprised if Bills fans fall victim to this sooner rather than later. So thought it was worth a topic to discuss. 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6002186/2024/12/18/chargers-broncos-tnf-flex-fans-upset?source=user-shared-article

Didn’t they announce this 4 weeks ago? 

[The Firebaugh Kid]

Shameless, rude, terrible, awful. 

[947]

They're not gonna flex a Bills game vs the Jets or Pats. If they do it again, it'll be 2 teams that are both in playoff contention.

[Spiderweb]

2 hours ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

I get the sentiment, but what makes the NFL so financially successful are the Network and sponsor deals. That's where the majority of cash flow is at and that's who they appease by showing better games on those networks.

Again, the advertising dollars aren't just given, but are determined by numbers they reach. We die hard fans fans. If we (fans) weren't viewing those dollar amounts the NFL gets, via networks etc. would fall.

[JP51]

2 hours ago, peterpan said:

I could actually see this running afoul of some states consumer protection laws.
 

-I’m curious - what happened in the past when, the bills have moved games to Detroit because of snow storms?

 

do they reimburse the season ticket holders?

 

do they reimburse people who bought individual game tickets?

 

what about people who bought on secondary market?  

 

 

I dont disagree here... the NFL doesnt care if the upend peoples vacations and plans.... some kid getting to go to his first game and being told we cant... however, I could see if consumers complain enough that the Government pulls the anti trust card and says... you can do this but you are subject to claims for airline tickets, hotel fees etc... because the ticket reimbursement is one thing... the expenses to get to a place etc... are another... but I would say it would have to be one heck of a hullabaloo from consumers to get them involved... but this is much more likely to happen than the NFL caring. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

37 minutes ago, The Firebaugh Kid said:

Shameless, rude, terrible, awful. 

You're right.  I suggest we seek legal counsel.

[BuffaloBillyG]

4 minutes ago, Spiderweb said:

Again, the advertising dollars aren't just given, but are determined by numbers they reach. We die hard fans fans. If we (fans) weren't viewing those dollar amounts the NFL gets, via networks etc. would fall.

Die hard fans, even the ones that will be unable to attend in person will still watch at home. And even if a small amount don't the viewership is larger than Buffalo. It's indeed world wide. More TVs will tune in to watch a better game or a game with a "must see TV" type player like Allen.

 

So yes, you are correct, with ad dollars being determined by viewership it motivates them to entice more of the world to run into a better game. What you said actually works in my favor here.

 

They're willing to tick off a few thousand to draw in an extra million viewers. 

[TheFunPolice]

That's rough for fans, and I can see the upset. 

 

When it comes to the Super Bowl, I'm less concerned about a London or Germany or Mars Super Bowl. 

 

99.9% of fans watch at a party somewhere anyway, so what does it really matter? Fans who do go are taking a trip to go, so it's an overseas trip to London AND a Super Bowl? That actually sounds pretty cool. 

 

I mean, I'll be watching from my living room or a party either way. 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

1 hour ago, QCity said:

Love how John Mara is front and center complaining.

 

“To flex a game back to Thursday night, to me, is just abusive,” Mara told reporters then.

He added: “At some point, can we please give some consideration to the people who are coming to our games? People make plans to go to these games weeks and months in advance. And 15 days ahead of time to say, ‘Sorry, folks, that game you were planning on taking your kids to Sunday at 1, now it’s on Thursday night.’ What are we thinking about?”

 

Yeah guess what buddy, you voted for that Amazon deal. You voted for that Peacock deal. You're pockets are packed. Spare me your factitious outrage.

 

I think that it's ok to change your mind and bring attention to something you disagree with.  

1 hour ago, QCity said:

Love how John Mara is front and center complaining.

 

“To flex a game back to Thursday night, to me, is just abusive,” Mara told reporters then.

He added: “At some point, can we please give some consideration to the people who are coming to our games? People make plans to go to these games weeks and months in advance. And 15 days ahead of time to say, ‘Sorry, folks, that game you were planning on taking your kids to Sunday at 1, now it’s on Thursday night.’ What are we thinking about?”

 

Yeah guess what buddy, you voted for that Amazon deal. You voted for that Peacock deal. You're pockets are packed. Spare me your factitious outrage.

 

I think that it's ok to change your mind and bring attention to something you disagree with.  

[Fleezoid]

The NFL does not give one rats a** about the fans. 

[St. Kitts Bills Cru]

3 hours ago, MadPerry said:

We were refunded for the game moved to Detroit 2 yrs ago.  I cant answer what happens on secondary market.  We were also given 1st chance at buying tickets for the relocated game.  I got club seats for $30 each I think.  

 

This situation is far different.  I'm annoyed enough at Sunday games getting moved to primetime.  To middle of the week means I likely cant go because of work, and I highly doubt there is any refund.  When you buy seasons you accept the terms.

I paid $30 for tickets on the 40 yard line. With the refund my ticket guy actually owed me back some money. It was glorious. 

[T master]

4 hours ago, Donuts and Doritos said:

(see article) NFL flexing Chargers Broncos a Sunday 1:00 game to Thursday Night for the 1st time ever. Leaves angry fans scrambling to either change plans to attend or sell their tickets. Seems NFL Owners have forgotten their fans in pursuit of $.

 

Putting NFL games exclusively on Peacock, adding black Friday and Xmas day games, talking about a London SB, now this. At what point is it a step too far? What can fans do to change it (boycott games)?

 

With how exciting Josh is to watch wouldn't be surprised if Bills fans fall victim to this sooner rather than later. So thought it was worth a topic to discuss. 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6002186/2024/12/18/chargers-broncos-tnf-flex-fans-upset?source=user-shared-article

 

I'll bet if the TV crew scanned the stadium to a mostly empty venue the NFL might take notice but i doubt it .

 

But like a lot of other companies they don't truly care about those fans that already had trips planned because the NFL is drowning in cash !! 

 

That is why i don't watch games (even the Bills games) that are out of the US, i won't support in any way the out sourcing of anything American made all in the name of greed and the more this happens the less i'll be watching the NFL , but for now .

 

GO BILLS !!!! 

[Heavy Kevi]

2 hours ago, Cash said:

It’ll depend on how much backlash there truly is. If people just want to whine/whinge about it, but the stadium winds up full with no drop in ticket prices, the owners won’t care. 

 

Bingo

 

Been saying it for years. It would be better off for the fans if we didn't capitulate and go wherever, whenever, or buy any streaming service, or get channels.

 

The NFL has completely forgotten that the fans make it successful and now demand fans do what they say.

 

So far they have largely been a success from a business standpoint because fans have shown they will do anything.

 

But if we wanted to make a difference, I would *not recommended* but admit we would have to either skip the games or watch them on an illegal feed. 

 

Only when they feel it in their pockets will they care what fans think.

 

 

 

This is why I don't go to games anymore, the game experience is so watered down and expensive. And whenever they do a peacock+ or some other obscure service or channel, I reddit somewhere that you can get the feeds for free if you look around.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

3 hours ago, Bills!Win! said:

This is perfect because the chargers don’t have fans 

I was going to post the same thing! 
 

but in all seriousness, I bet this is why the NFL flexed this game. Screwing over the hundred or so “LA Chargers fans”— there will be very little backlash.
 

It probably hurts Broncos fans more, as I bet there were a bunch who were traveling to that game. 

[djp14150]

1 hour ago, chongli said:

 

No, since the Chiefs would have an advantage knowing the result of the Bills-Pats game. If the Bills lost, KC could get the number one seed with a win at Denver. If the Bills won, KC could rest their players. Both games would need to be 4:25 Sunday.

 

(For those who do not know, there is an early and late Saturday game in Week 18, teams TBD.)

It has been done before with KC playing on sat and win their in, lose then #1 up for grabs

 

KC playing DEN still could matter on who KC plays and seeding or making playoffs for Denver.

[Governor]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I don't have an issue with any of the other stuff but this, moving a game that was scheduled for a Sunday to a Thursday at 4 weeks notice is completely ridiculous and totally insulting to fans who want to attend these games. 

 

It should never have passed at the league meetings and I wonder if the backlash will make them re-think. 

I could be confused but I believe it says date and time TBD when you go to Ticketmaster and buy tickets for games this late in the season.