NFL Thursday Night Football Expands to 18 Games for 2016 and 2017
If you're a fan of Thursday Night Football then good news is ahead. The NFL announced today that the league has expanded its Thursday Night slate.
While the Thursday Night Football product has faced criticism from players (for the quick turnaround) and even fans (non-interesting games/blowouts) it has become a big money maker for the NFL. That alone will always keep Thursday Night Football around, especially with a new network making a push for games.
Enter NBC. For the last couple of years CBS has partnered with the NFL Network for Thursday Night Football games. Now this year, CBS and NBC will both broadcast five games each along with NFL Network simulcasting. NFL Network will also have exclusive rights to eight games as part of the package.
That means for 2016 and 2017 a total of 18 games will be played as part of the Thursday Night Football Package. The NFL also noted that some of the games will also take place on Saturday night and additional games to be determined.
This past year a total of 16 games were played as part of the Thursday Night deal.