Theismann: NFL Scheduling Drift Has Fractured Sunday Football's Identity
Theismann: NFL Scheduling Drift Has Fractured Sunday Football's Identity
Joe Theismann, the former Washington quarterback and Super Bowl champion, says the NFL has moved so far from its traditional Sunday-afternoon structure that the league's scheduling calendar barely resembles the one fans grew up with. Speaking to Fox News Digital, Theismann said the proliferation of streaming platforms and the league's appetite for new broadcast revenue have reshaped when and where football is watched.
"They've drifted away from tradition," Theismann said. "When you look at all the different streaming services and all the different networks, it used to be ABC, NBC, and CBS - but that doesn't exist anymore." He noted that broadcast rights now extend to streaming platforms including Amazon and YouTube, and that owners have responded to the commercial opportunities those deals represent. "Now we're in a time and a place where the opportunity for the owners to make lots of money from different entities, from YouTube, from Amazon, from Peacock," he said.
Theismann described a Sunday culture that once gave the regular season a reliable rhythm. "Sunday is something you would look forward to sitting down to because you really didn't have an option," he said. "Now you have options on Monday night, Thursday night, Wednesday night - God only knows, Tuesday night, Saturday evening. If you're a fan of the NFL, you're going to find the game." The 2026 season is scheduled to open on a Wednesday, with the second game of the season to be played in Melbourne, Australia, on a Thursday - continuing the league's international series expansion. The NFL also introduced a Thanksgiving Eve game this season, adding a Wednesday fixture to a holiday window previously anchored to Thursday. A Black Friday game, now in its fourth annual edition, is also on the calendar, as are three games on Christmas Day, which falls on a Friday. Saturday games will follow once the college football regular season concludes in mid-December.
Theismann acknowledged that wider access carries a genuine benefit for fans. "It gives you a chance to find the game that you want to watch now - you don't have to read about it the next day," he said. "In one regard it's grown the NFL, and the other side of it, yeah, would we all like things to be a little bit like they used to be? Maybe. But life is changing. You have to adapt and change with it." Theismann, 76, made the comments ahead of his appearance at the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament, scheduled for July 10-12 at Edgewood Golf Course in Lake Tahoe, where he will compete for the 37th time.
