‘Thursday Night Football’ reportedly on the chopping block

The up-and-down ratings and viewership of the 2016 season have forced the NFL to take a closer look at what works and doesn’t. According to Pro Football Talk, the league is considering ending, or at least limiting, Thursday Night Football.

Thursday games used to be a novelty in the latter half of an NFL season, but have since been extended to become a part of the weekly landscape for football viewers. All 32 teams play in at least one Thursday game, and broadcast rights are split between NFL Network, CBS, and NBC, with Twitter digitally streaming 10 of the games.

But just a few years ago, Thursday games didn’t become a part of the NFL schedule until the postseason race in November. It wasn’t until 2012 that Thursday Night Football became a weekly fixture in September and October, and in 2005 only the first game of the year and Thanksgiving games were played on a Thursday.

“You always want to get up to that line and never cross it,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said at a New York Times conference when asked about oversaturation. “For us, that’s exactly how we’ve done it. That’s why we’ve moved really slowly with Thursday Night Football, as an example. We started with six games, then went to eight and 13 and 16. And we don’t know what the right combination is so that’s why we’re only doing short-term deals.

“What we try to do is find the right balance there. The great thing about football is that it’s a very short season. It’s only 17 weeks and then playoffs, and every game counts. That makes our inventory incredibly valuable, but you also have to be careful about taking it and broadening it out, and saturating the market with it. That’s something we’re very conscious of.”

The NFL is under contract with CBS and NBC for another season, but changes to the package could be made in 2018. With the package reportedly selling for $450 million in 2015, it’s difficult to imagine the NFL wants to eliminate the revenue stream entirely; although, the reduction of the package would be welcomed by many.

But the NFL pumped the brakes Monday with a response to the reports of a dialed back Thursday Night Football slate.

The statement should be taken with a grain of salt, though. With another year of weekly Thursday games on the way, it’s in the NFL’s best interest to insist that Thursday Night Football is a good product and not one the league is considering cutting.

Several players have spoken against Thursday Night Football as an example that the league cares about profits ahead of player safety. Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman called it a contradiction by the NFL that says it cares about players.

“That Friday, everything was hurting; knees, hands, shoulders,” Houston Texans offensive tackle Duane Brown told Sports Illustrated of a 2012 overtime game on a Thursday. “I didn’t get out of bed until that night. I didn’t leave the house at all. You talk about player safety, but you want to extend the season and add Thursday games? It’s talking out of both sides of your mouth.”

With complaints about lesser quality of play on short rest, players angry about the toll it takes, and shaky ratings possibly due to the saturation of the market, Thursdays could feature less football soon.