Thursday Night Football Scheduling Conundrum

[MacNews]

Can someone tell me who in the CFL offices thought it would be a good idea to schedule CFL games on a Thursday?

-The CFL is not the NFL, who can schedule a game any day they want.
-There is no NHL or NFL during the summer, so take advantage and schedule one or two CFL games on Sunday during July and August
-No one wants to drive to a stadium at 5pm and get home at 10pm on a Thursday
-The CFL sprouts bye weeks like my yard sprouts weeds, but still you could schedule one game on Friday night, one on Saturday night and one on Sunday afternoon
-Scheduling the Sunday game in the evening instead of the afternoon is equally stupid as on a Thursday. Everybody in the world works on Monday morning, therefore no one wants to be watching football at 8 or 9pm when you could have scheduled the kickoff for 1 or 2pm and been done by 4-5pm, including the now mandatory East Coast weather delay.

These Thursday night games are a disaster because I don't know anyone who gets Thursday off as part of their weekend except casino workers.

Thought Exercise: Thursday night games, CFL Global Draft and the new statistics system, which is the biggest failure?

[TheLionKing]

Totally concur. Hate Thursday home games.

[B.C.FAN]

TSN drives the schedule, but I agree that Sunday is a much better day than Thursday for summer football, especially for families and those of us who commute long distances to games. We’re stuck with hosting Friday Night Football games as TSN’s flagship broadcast but the Lions got the short stick this year with three Friday night rivalry games against Western teams to close out the home schedule. Each of those games will cost them thousands of fans who can’t easily get into the city on a weekday.

[SammyGreene]

And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out all three BC/Winnipeg games will have first place implications given what happened a year ago in a fricken 9 team league. Yet let’s give one team a huge rest advantage for game 2.

Not saying it would have reversed yesterday’s result as the Bombers’ game plan and performance was outstanding. But if BC lost back in week 3 as well the October game here easily could have been meaningless

[Qman]

Can someone tell me who in the CFL offices thought it would be a good idea to schedule CFL games on a Thursday?

-The CFL is not the NFL, who can schedule a game any day they want.
-There is no NHL or NFL during the summer, so take advantage and schedule one or two CFL games on Sunday during July and August
-No one wants to drive to a stadium at 5pm and get home at 10pm on a Thursday
-The CFL sprouts bye weeks like my yard sprouts weeds, but still you could schedule one game on Friday night, one on Saturday night and one on Sunday afternoon
-Scheduling the Sunday game in the evening instead of the afternoon is equally stupid as on a Thursday. Everybody in the world works on Monday morning, therefore no one wants to be watching football at 8 or 9pm when you could have scheduled the kickoff for 1 or 2pm and been done by 4-5pm, including the now mandatory East Coast weather delay.

These Thursday night games are a disaster because I don't know anyone who gets Thursday off as part of their weekend except casino workers.

Thought Exercise: Thursday night games, CFL Global Draft and the new statistics system, which is the biggest failure?

Thursday games are there because young fans don’t watch Friday / Saturday nights. You have a whole generation of fans than didn’t grow up watching cfl because every game was Friday and Saturday at night for 20 years.

Your right thursdays don’t work here and more due to traffic. Doman worked out a deal, no thursdays move for no more late night game slots in summer. I assume TSN is happy.

Afternoon football get a lot lower ratings than prime time. League wants most of it games in same prime time window until it’s gets cold. TV pays the bills. TV contract is only source of immediate revenue expansion.

[Lion Guy]

CFL football is a weekend sport. It is NOT the NFL. Friday night games are great. Sundays even better. Thursday are just ridiculous

[Hambone]

The stupidity in the CFL schedule is not with Thursday games but rather with the insanity of starting the season when the focus of North American, which includes Canada, sports fans is placed on things other than some little 9 team, Canada only football league. I've been following the TV ratings and compiling the numbers. I posted the following on RF where they have an ongoing TV ratings thread:

Out of curiosity I've been tracking the ratings numbers in a spreadsheet. Averages after Week 8 including RDS:

Thursday games: 431267 (6 games)
Friday 1st game: 548850 (8 games)
Friday 2nd game: no double headers yet
Saturday 1st game: 545900 (8 games)
Saturday 2nd game: 614850 (2 games)
Sunday games: 510017 (6 games)
Monday games: 573000 (1 game)
NOTE: The Monday game was on the July long weekend when there was no Sunday game. For all intents it could be considered a Sunday night game. If rolled into Sunday numbers the average would jump to 519014.

For the next section I've both totalled Montreal's TSN+RDS numbers and later split them. Average ratings by team participating:

MTL - 615383 (TSN+RDS)
SSK - 603157
WPG - 582300
CGY - 517829
BCL - 516257
TOR - 507150
EDM - 491263
HAM - 470600
OTT - 417214
MTL - 412717 (TSN Only)
MTL - 202667 (RDS Only)

Finally average ratings per game by week:

Week 1 - 431550
Week 2 - 439150
Week 3 - 518350
Week 4 - 550900
Week 5 - 552775
Week 6 - 610325
Week 7 - 538600
Week 8 - 548175

Of note:
Worst rating of season was 226900 for season opener going head to head vs Stanley Cup final. 24 of 31 games season-to-date saw ratings more than double that game.

The 3 worst rated games and 4 of the worst 7 came in the first 2 weeks of the season. Included in that were the first 2 Thursday games. After averaging 249950 for the first 2 TNF games they have averaged 521925 in the 4 subsequent airings.

To add to that to be successful earning ratings during Weeks 1 & 2 tthe CFL had to draw attention away from the Stanley Cup Finals, NBA Finals, PGA Canadian Open with Canadians in contention including Nick Taylor being the first Canadian to win in 69 years, the PGA US Open which was played on the West Coast thus head to head vs CFL games and finally those Toronto Blue Jays. Now I don't know the tastes of the friends of readers here but in my fairly large group of friends I know nobody who doesn't pay just as much attention, if not moreso, to those other things as they do to the CFL. There is a very noticeable spike in ratings once the CFL season saw those things in their rear view mirror. The CFL season should not start before the 3rd week in June IMO yet the Commish seems to think it would be good to go earlier when the Memorial Cup is on and the possibility of Canadian teams still being alive in the SC playoffs is much higher. Can you say ratings suicide?

[B.C.FAN]

Nice breakdown, Hambone. I agree it’s
suicide to ho head to head with the Stanley Cup and NBA playoffs. The latter is especially true when the Raptors are in contention. It’s hard enough to get media attention on the CFL when there’s little competition, and that applies to drawing fans into stadiums as well as focusing eyeballs on CFL telecasts.

This doesn’t even factor in preseason. It was bad enough in 2011 when the Lions’ first preseason game in Calgary on June 15 went head to head with Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Lions game had a much better outcome.

[Qman]

Nice breakdown, Hambone. I agree it’s
suicide to ho head to head with the Stanley Cup and NBA playoffs. The latter is especially true when the Raptors are in contention. It’s hard enough to get media attention on the CFL when there’s little competition, and that applies to drawing fans into stadiums as well as focusing eyeballs on CFL telecasts.

This doesn’t even factor in preseason. It was bad enough in 2011 when the Lions’ first preseason game in Calgary on June 15 went head to head with Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Lions game had a much better outcome.

No one watches nba finals in Canada (unless raptors are in it). Think this year barely cracked 100k.

Agree moving schedule up a week last two years, and nhl dragging final into mid June has created conflict which never happened before. Although it’s only one week. Two games were affected. Stanley cup final usually goes mon, wed, sat. This year went on Thursday for some odd reason which conflicted with opener.

[Coast Mountain Lion]

The fact that the CFL season begins when the Stanley Cup finals are still on is not the fault of the CFL. I recall sometime around 1974 or so when the SC finals went into the Victoria Day weekend for the first time, and thinking that was too late. Now it's at least a month later (and playing in Las Vegas and Miami, fergawdsake).

Unfortunately, the NHL is unlikely to change that. So unless the CFL wants to start playing in July and have the Grey Cup in December, we're stuck with that. But the NFL playoffs are now going up to around Valentine's Day, and if they can play in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania in January maybe we can play in Winnipeg in December.

[Hambone]

Nice breakdown, Hambone. I agree it’s
suicide to ho head to head with the Stanley Cup and NBA playoffs. The latter is especially true when the Raptors are in contention. It’s hard enough to get media attention on the CFL when there’s little competition, and that applies to drawing fans into stadiums as well as focusing eyeballs on CFL telecasts.

This doesn’t even factor in preseason. It was bad enough in 2011 when the Lions’ first preseason game in Calgary on June 15 went head to head with Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Lions game had a much better outcome.

No one watches nba finals in Canada (unless raptors are in it). Think this year barely cracked 100k.

Agree moving schedule up a week last two years, and nhl dragging final into mid June has created conflict which never happened before. Although it’s only one week. Two games were affected. Stanley cup final usually goes mon, wed, sat. This year went on Thursday for some odd reason which conflicted with opener.

The CFL got off a bit lucky this year in that both the SC & NBA finals both wrapped up in 5 games. Had the SC gone 7 game 6 would have been played on Friday of CFL Week 2. That night Winnipeg was in Saskatchewan with 690600 watching. The deeper the SC finals go the more interest and higher the ratings go. Game 3 this year drew 1.660M SN + CBC with Game 4 increasing to 1.853M. I can't find the info on Game 5 but with the potential of the Cup being won no doubt they went well over 2.000M in Canada and would have been higher again in the event of a Game 6 or 7.

The NHL and CFL have been working on a collision course for a few years now but that is almost entirely the CFL's doing. Stanley Cup finals have consistently wrapped up in the first 15 days of June for the past 30 years, usually in the 2nd week, with Covid and labour disputes making exceptions. 1991 was the last time anybody sipped champagne from Stanley in May. That year the CFL kicked off on July 11th, nearly 5 weeks later than in 2023. The CFL has gone from kicking off July 11th in 1991 to July 4th in 2001 to over the Canada Day weekend in 2011 to June 8th in 2023. They've gone from starting 33 days after the NHL season wrapped up in 1991 to overlapping it by 3 days in 2023 which could have been 8 days had SC finals gone 7. CFL season is now starting 2 weeks earlier than it did as recently as 2017 when the season opened on Thu June 22nd, 11 days after the Penguins finished off the Preds in Game 6.

As for the dates of the SC finals yes they do typically follow a format but that is also in coordination with the NBA. The two do collaborate to alternate their game dates. In 2022 the NHL went Wed, Sat, Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun. In 2019 it was Mon, Wed, Sat, Mon, Thu, Sun, Wed.

IMO the impact on the CFL of these other conflicting high profile events isn't necessarily from head-to-head overlaps on TV but rather from the fact those other events have the attention of the majority of sports fans even on nights when a game won't be played. In my large circle of friends when NHL playoffs are on if they aren't talking about the next game they're rehashing the last one. Heck I was still invested right until the end and neiter of my teams (Wings & Canucks) even made the playoffs!

As for the NBA I'm in the portion of fans who doesn't follow it (Raptors or not) but I don't underestimate the interest others have. We might not sense it as much on the left coast but I'm sure there is a huge NBA following back in the Golden Horseshoe whether the Raptors are still alive or not. I was out in Calgary for the Lions season opener. The next night I was in the National, a very popular bar on the Red Mile (17th). Bo Levi was making his debut for Hamilton vs Winnipeg. After a quick canvassing around to see if anybody was paying attention to the TV in front of me I asked the bartender to switch it to the Ticat/Bomber game. Everything was on the NBA Finals game. I can't say that I saw more than 1 or 2 people turn their attention from the NBA TVs to the one I had switched to CFL.

[Hambone]

The fact that the CFL season begins when the Stanley Cup finals are still on is not the fault of the CFL. I recall sometime around 1974 or so when the SC finals went into the Victoria Day weekend for the first time, and thinking that was too late. Now it's at least a month later (and playing in Las Vegas and Miami, fergawdsake).

Unfortunately, the NHL is unlikely to change that. So unless the CFL wants to start playing in July and have the Grey Cup in December, we're stuck with that. But the NFL playoffs are now going up to around Valentine's Day, and if they can play in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania in January maybe we can play in Winnipeg in December.

In 1974 the CFL didn't even start their preseason until July 2nd. Regular season started July 24th and Grey Cup still went Nov 24th.

[B.C.FAN]

Adding a team to the East Division would
allow the league to shorten the season by two weeks and still give every team a bye. That would solve the early-season scheduling conflicts. I prefer starting the season later and ending it at the traditional time on the last Sunday in November. The league is afraid of conflicts with the NFL but football is a fall sport. Any attempt to play it in other seasons hurts fan support.

[Coast Mountain Lion]

The fact that the CFL season begins when the Stanley Cup finals are still on is not the fault of the CFL. I recall sometime around 1974 or so when the SC finals went into the Victoria Day weekend for the first time, and thinking that was too late. Now it's at least a month later (and playing in Las Vegas and Miami, fergawdsake).

Unfortunately, the NHL is unlikely to change that. So unless the CFL wants to start playing in July and have the Grey Cup in December, we're stuck with that. But the NFL playoffs are now going up to around Valentine's Day, and if they can play in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania in January maybe we can play in Winnipeg in December.

In 1974 the CFL didn't even start their preseason until July 2nd. Regular season started July 24th and Grey Cup still went Nov 24th.

Hmm, maybe I'm misremembering. I definitely remember working at Argo games in July of 1977 and they were into regular season by then. Maybe it was late July...

[Qman]

Adding a team to the East Division would
allow the league to shorten the season by two weeks and still give every team a bye. That would solve the early-season scheduling conflicts. I prefer starting the season later and ending it at the traditional time on the last Sunday in November. The league is afraid of conflicts with the NFL but football is a fall sport. Any attempt to play it in other seasons hurts fan support.

You’re still going to get byes with a 10th team. Just not as many.
- player safety
- TSN broadcast slots. Likely they will add a Saturday afternoons game in summer. But in fall they have 2 games Friday and 2 games Saturday. You would have todo triple headers. This is really hard for tsn. My guess is they go down 4 games a weeks sept and oct without long weekends
- they want to move grey cup up a week. From mid November. Around the nov 7th

My guess the season will start week later and end week early.