SBJ's John Ourand came out with an article saying that multiple sources indicate that the season opening Thursday night game is indeed going to be Packers at Bears and not a game involving the Patriots.
Other key points:
--Patriots will open on Sunday Night Football at home. Ourand thinks the Patriots will open up against the NY Giants due to the network wanting to save the AFC games for later in the season. He says it is likely the league wants to save Chiefs-Patriots for later in the year.
--The NFC has many, many more high-profile games this year than the AFC due to the NFC East playing the NFC North and the fact that the majority of the high-profile interconference games put the NFC teams on the road so they will be on FOX.
--All of the TV executives pitched to Howard Katz of the NFL during Super Bowl week the games they want to feature on their networks. ESPN pushed for matchups that tie into the 100th anniversary for Monday Night.
--Expect to see at least 1 or 2 high profile NFC games cross-flexed to CBS such as Cowboys-Packers or Cowboys-Saints.
--In addition to ratings mainstays like the Cowboys, Patriots, Steelers, and Packers he said expect to see a lot of Bears, Rams, and Chiefs in primetime.
--Expect SNF and TNF to feature many more NFC than AFC games.
--NFL Network will exclusively air 2 of the 4 London games instead of 1. Fox and CBS will split the other 2.
--The Thanksgiving games during the day will likely be Bears-Lions and Dolphins-Cowboys. I'm not sure why Bears-Lions for a 2nd straight year, however.
https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2019/02/11/Media/Bears-Packers.aspx
Other key points:
--Patriots will open on Sunday Night Football at home. Ourand thinks the Patriots will open up against the NY Giants due to the network wanting to save the AFC games for later in the season. He says it is likely the league wants to save Chiefs-Patriots for later in the year.
--The NFC has many, many more high-profile games this year than the AFC due to the NFC East playing the NFC North and the fact that the majority of the high-profile interconference games put the NFC teams on the road so they will be on FOX.
--All of the TV executives pitched to Howard Katz of the NFL during Super Bowl week the games they want to feature on their networks. ESPN pushed for matchups that tie into the 100th anniversary for Monday Night.
--Expect to see at least 1 or 2 high profile NFC games cross-flexed to CBS such as Cowboys-Packers or Cowboys-Saints.
--In addition to ratings mainstays like the Cowboys, Patriots, Steelers, and Packers he said expect to see a lot of Bears, Rams, and Chiefs in primetime.
--Expect SNF and TNF to feature many more NFC than AFC games.
--NFL Network will exclusively air 2 of the 4 London games instead of 1. Fox and CBS will split the other 2.
--The Thanksgiving games during the day will likely be Bears-Lions and Dolphins-Cowboys. I'm not sure why Bears-Lions for a 2nd straight year, however.
https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2019/02/11/Media/Bears-Packers.aspx
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