Do we really need 2 Monday night football games.

[BaseballMan]

Once again my team is opening on monday night at 10 pm et.
I will have to take pto on tuesday in order to watch the game since i leave for work very early.
Im sure this is a pain in the butt for other fans of teams in the late game.
Isnt the NFL and the network shooting itself by scheduling a game so late?
I wonder how may fans bother watching the all of the 2nd game.
I get the thursday opening game. But to be honest it seems to be losing popularity.
I'm kinda wishing it would go back to all sunday games and 1 monday night game. I like having all but 2 teams opening on one day and 1game on monday.

[PocketsAintFull]

Yeah it always seems strange to have such a late second game, though they do hype it up as a double-header, so maybe it works fine for their ratings.

[Cobra Mgr]

I hate it personally. I would guess fans on the west coast like it because the normal 830 starts are in the middle of rush hour for them. But we on the east coast hate it in general. TV evidently finds the NFL more valuable having this option. It gives ESPN an extra game they would have w/o it. And again, tv schedules are usually made w/an east coast bias. So I guess it is only fair to give the Pacific a chip here.

I find it more egregious the way college basketball schedules games especially during the tourney. They often give some teams an unearned advantage w/the late starts.

[Hrycaj]

I miss gorging on college games Saturday and pro games on Sunday. I miss all the cool college bowl games being on the same day as well. I miss a World Series game ending before 10 pm. (Last out of the '84 World Series was before 8 pm I believe) I totally get why they do it, but I wonder if the money outweighs the fact that people (especially young ones) are not tuning in like they did years ago.

[low]

Still not as bad as the abomination that is Thursday night games.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

...I would guess fans on the west coast like it because the normal 830 starts are in the middle of rush hour for them... tv schedules are usually made w/an east coast bias. So I guess it is only fair to give the Pacific a chip here.

Yep. Speaking as a Pacific Coaster, this ^^^

I look at it this way: Unlike every other Monday night where the single game starts to early for the West Coasters and ends too late for the East Coasters, Week One has one game conveniently scheduled for East Coasters, and one game conveniently scheduled for West Coasters. Everybody wins!

[BaseballMan]

Originally Posted by thehef

Yep. Speaking as a Pacific Coaster, this ^^^

I look at it this way: Unlike every other Monday night where the single game starts to early for the West Coasters and ends too late for the East Coasters, Week One has one game conveniently scheduled for East Coasters, and one game conveniently scheduled for West Coasters. Everybody wins!

Actually they don't. In this day and age you probably have more fans of teams from other areas of the country than ever before. My team plays at 10 pm and i start work at 5am. How is that a win?

[thehef]

Originally Posted by BaseballMan

Actually they don't. In this day and age you probably have more fans of teams from other areas of the country than ever before. My team plays at 10 pm and i start work at 5am. How is that a win?

While that's undoubtedly true, I wasn't referring to "favorite" teams. I just meant that - without regards to the teams scheduled - one game is conveniently scheduled for the east, and one is conveniently scheduled for the west

(My fave team is Miami and I live on the west coast. This year especially - for obvious reasons - I will be looking for competitive and entertaining games, rather than worrying about where & when to see the headed-for-not-just-0-and-16-but-sixteen-double-digit-losses Dolphins )

[BaseballMan]

Originally Posted by thehef

While that's undoubtedly true, I wasn't referring to "favorite" teams. I just meant that - without regards to the teams scheduled - one game is conveniently scheduled for the east, and one is conveniently scheduled for the west

(My fave team is Miami and I live on the west coast. This year especially - for obvious reasons - I will be looking for competitive and entertaining games, rather than worrying about where & when to see the headed-for-not-just-0-and-16-but-sixteen-double-digit-losses Dolphins )

Yeah but the NFL is shooting itself in the foot if they are losing viewers from either game by scheduling 2 games.
If they put one of the monday night games back on sunday you may have to choose which one to watch but at least you wont be stuck with watching the game so late.
Plus i wonder if 2 games actually weakens the exciment for one of the games.
I know im not that intrested in the first game and i bet fans of those teams are far less interested in the 2nd game.

[Cobra Mgr]

The NFL has done a better job than any of the leagues in developing love for their sport. People watch football just because it is football. You don't see rouge basketball or hockey leagues. But you see it in football because there is a portion of the population that will point their eyes at your product at the mere mention of "touchdown".

So I doubt 2 games weakens any excitement. I think 2 games actually makes opening week a bigger event. In the same, maybe bigger, way games throughout the day makes the NBA big on Xmas & the MLB huge on the 4th & Labor Day. In all likelihood, playing late on Monday will probably garnish more ratings than if either was just one of many on Sunday.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by BaseballMan

Yeah but the NFL is shooting itself in the foot if they are losing viewers from either game by scheduling 2 games.
If they put one of the monday night games back on sunday you may have to choose which one to watch but at least you wont be stuck with watching the game so late.
Plus i wonder if 2 games actually weakens the exciment for one of the games.
I know im not that intrested in the first game and i bet fans of those teams are far less interested in the 2nd game.

I dunno. It's just the first Monday night of the season where this happens. And the NFL/ESPN has been doing it now for like 14 years. If it wasn't working ratings-wise, they'd know by now

And as far as if it makes sense ratings-wise, I don't care. For me, it's more NFL on the tube for me to choose to watch, or not. No problem there.

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

The NFL has done a better job than any of the leagues in developing love for their sport. People watch football just because it is football. You don't see rouge basketball or hockey leagues. But you see it in football because there is a portion of the population that will point their eyes at your product at the mere mention of "touchdown".

True. Personally, while my fall & winter weekends are not consumed by football, I do have games on non-stop if I'm home, and pay attention to the good ones. I even watched a fair amount of AAF and was sad to see it go. On the flip side, while I'm also an NBA fan, I don't give even a cursory look to Big 3 Ball... YMMV

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

So I doubt 2 games weakens any excitement. I think 2 games actually makes opening week a bigger event. In the same, maybe bigger, way games throughout the day makes the NBA big on Xmas & the MLB huge on the 4th & Labor Day. In all likelihood, playing late on Monday will probably garnish more ratings than if either was just one of many on Sunday.

Exactly. I and friends already have our plans for opening Thursday night, the Monday night double-header, and some select SNF, MNF and TNF games througout the year.

The NFL has got it down. Not that some tweaks might not be in the cards, but it's working.

[Ragnar]

I have to wake up at 4:30 AM Tuesday morning. I am glad I am not a fan of one of those teams.