NFL executive explains Jets-heavy early prime-time schedule
Jets 'owe us one': NFL explains prime-time slate
The Jets landed a record number of prime-time games over the first three months of the 2024 season because the appeal of four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers was too great to ignore, the NFL said Thursday.
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"Yes, it's an awful lot of prime-time games early in the season, but, obviously, I feel like Jets kind of owe us one," Mike North, the NFL's vice president of broadcast planning, said on a video conference with reporters.
The Jets have six night games in the first 11 weeks, the most for any team since the 1970 merger, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The NFL and its TV networks went big on the Jets last season -- five games in prime time -- but it backfired when Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 1.
The Jets have two games on Monday night (ESPN/ABC), two games on Sunday night (NBC) and two games on Thursday night (Prime Video). They open the "Monday Night Football" schedule, facing the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 9. They could get more prime-time dates on the back end of the season because of flex scheduling, North said.
Something tells me the Jets are gonna get really favorable calls from the refs cuz of this exec admitting shady business decisions.