Ahead of the 2023 season, the NFL owners agreed to pass a resolution to give the league the ability to flex Thursday Night Football games.
TNF games have drawn the ire of players and coaches alike because of the quick turnaround time that can lead to injuries. Players in particular have not been shy about letting their feelings be known on social media, though the league’s recent actions suggest that they’re not going to be going away any time soon.
Prior to the resolution being passed, Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis didn’t mince words when asked if he would support it via Jarrett Bell of USA Today:
“Absolutely not,” Davis said.
Davis added that the NFL should just decide on the schedule and stick to it no matter what.
“Just make the schedule and play it.
The motion was approved via a 24-8 owners vote, with the Raiders being one of the teams that dissented. The flex plan has several conditions to it, one of them being that only games between Weeks 13-17 are applicable.
This affects Las Vegas as they’re set to host the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 15 at Allegiant Stadium. Davis explained that the new resolution could come at the expense of fans who prepared well in advance to watch them play on Thursday:
“If you have a Raiders-Chargers game in Las Vegas scheduled for a Thursday,” Davis said, “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 hell do you schedule it and now say, ‘Sorry, it’s now on Sunday?’ How in the hell do you do that?”
Davis makes a good point as flexing games from Thursday to Sunday seems like a poor experience for fans. While the league has to give teams 28 days notice that they’re flexing their game, it still will make it inconvenient for people who were planning to go watch in person.
As of now, there are a lot more questions than answers as to how the NFL will approach its new flexing option. The 2023 season is going to be a trial period, though if the league doesn’t flex any games, then the resolutions roll over into 2024.
Davis and fans have every right to be upset with the rule, though at this point there’s nothing to be done except hope that the schedule stays the same.
