{"id":798528,"date":"2026-05-15T16:07:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T16:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/798528\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T16:07:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T16:07:11","slug":"winners-and-losers-of-the-nfl-schedule-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/798528\/","title":{"rendered":"Winners and losers of the NFL schedule release"},"content":{"rendered":"

This originally appeared in the Friday edition of\u00a0 The A Block, Awful Announcing\u2019s daily newsletter with the latest sports media news, commentary, and analysis. Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0and be the first to know everything you need to know about the sports media world.<\/p>\n

At last, our long national nightmare is over. The full NFL schedule is at our disposal. That means we can finally do one of our favorite annual columns here at Awful Announcing: Winners and Losers of the NFL Schedule Release.<\/p>\n

For us weirdos that cover sports media as an occupation, the NFL schedule release is something akin to how the NFL Draft sickos must feel when the last week in April rolls around. It\u2019s an opportunity for us to look at exactly where each network stands in terms of the quality of their package, the value they\u2019re getting for their multibillion-dollar rights fees, and sometimes even the health of their overall relationship with the NFL.<\/p>\n

The schedule is both the carrot and the stick for the league; it can bestow great games to the broadcast partners it favors, and send a message to other partners by giving them a weak schedule.<\/p>\n

So without further ado, here are the winners and losers of this year\u2019s schedule release.<\/p>\n

Winners: CBS and Fox<\/p>\n

In many ways, the 2026-27 schedule feels like a return to normalcy for both CBS and Fox. With few exceptions, CBS\u2019s package skews heavily towards the big dogs in the AFC, and Fox\u2019s package skews towards the NFC\u2019s heavy-hitters.<\/p>\n

CBS will feature four Kansas City Chiefs games and is certainly putting prayers up for Patrick Mahomes\u2019 ACL and LCL. Not to mention, CBS gets the Dallas Cowboys twice, a Buffalo Bills-New England Patriots game, and a smattering of other top teams for its 4:25 p.m. ET national windows.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as we\u2019re concerned, the more of the Chiefs we can get, the better,\u201d CBS Sports exec Dan Weinberg told Sports Business Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cNFL ON CBS\u201d FOLLOWS RECORD-BREAKING SEASON WITH SHOWSTOPPING 2026 SCHEDULE LED BY TV\u2019S NO. 1 PROGRAM<\/p>\n

NFL\u2019s Most-Watched Package is Primary Home of the AFC, its Star QBs and Television\u2019s Top Window<\/p>\n

More than 100 Regular-Season Games and Full Slate of Playoff Games<\/p>\n

Release:\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/jPcu5t9dOr<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) May 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Fox\u2019s national windows feel very Fox, as in, you\u2019re going to see a lot of the NFC\u2019s best teams. The Cowboys will make three appearances, as will the Green Bay Packers. Meanwhile, the Eagles, 49ers, Bears, Lions, and Commanders all make two appearances apiece.<\/p>\n

This was intentional from the network. Per SBJ, Fox wanted \u201can emphasis on being the home of the NFC,\u201d and certainly got that.<\/p>\n

\n

America\u2019s Game of the Week is stacked with can\u2019t miss matchups all season long \ud83e\udd29\ud83d\udcfa@TomBrady<\/a> | @ErinAndrews<\/a> | @kevinburkhardt<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/edwILkJfzq<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) May 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Aside from the quality of teams in the national window games, CBS and Fox came out on top this year because of the additional standalone windows both received from the NFL earlier this week. Fox, as we learned on Monday, struck a deal<\/a> for an international game in Week 10 and a Saturday game in Week 15. CBS will also air a Saturday game in Week 15.<\/p>\n

For Fox in particular, the strength of its schedule was likely a relief considering the NFL could\u2019ve easily chosen to be vindictive<\/a> about the network\u2019s behind-the-scenes political maneuvering targeting the NFL. That clearly did not happen.<\/p>\n

With all the talk about Sunday afternoon being diminished because the NFL is creating more standalone windows, it seems there was an emphasis on scheduling high-quality games at 4:25 p.m. ET each Sunday.<\/p>\n

Draws: ESPN and Prime Video<\/p>\n

Both ESPN\u2019s Monday Night Football package and Prime Video\u2019s Thursday Night Football package have some high highs and low lows, which puts each broadcaster firmly in the \u201cDraw\u201d category.<\/p>\n

ESPN, for instance, has great matchups like Cowboys-Eagles, Eagles-Bears, Bears-Seahawks, Patriots-Chiefs, and Cowboys-Seahawks, but they also have some duds like Falcons-Saints and Panthers-Buccaneers.<\/p>\n

\n

ESPN\u2019s landmark #NFL<\/a> season is upon us! \ud83c\udfc8\ud83d\ude4c<\/p>\n

\ud83d\uddd3\ufe0f #MNF<\/a> fueled by marquee matchups, incl. DEN-KC (Wk 1), BUF-LAR (Wk 5), DAL-PHI (Wk 7), DAL-SEA (Wk 13), NE-KC (Wk 15)
\ud83c\udf0e 5 international games on @nflnetwork<\/a>
\ud83c\udfc6 ESPN\u2019s 1st-ever Super Bowl on Feb. 14<\/p>\n

More: https:\/\/t.co\/gFpKxvHVaZ<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/4UkLKvhhPH<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) May 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Similarly, Prime Video has a handful of high-quality games like Lions-Bills, Seahawks-Broncos, Patriots-Bears, and Chiefs-Rams, but also some games that could end up being one-sided, like Panthers-Packers. Luckily, most of Prime Video\u2019s weaker games on paper are divisional rivalries: Steelers-Browns, Commanders-Giants, Colts-Texans might not be top-crust games, but they will certainly be meaningful and have potential playoff implications.<\/p>\n

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IT\u2019S HERE!<\/p>\n

Your 2026 Thursday Night Football schedule just dropped \ud83d\udea8#TNFonPrime<\/a> | @PrimeVideo<\/a> | @SportsOnPrime<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/QSUiCqe3i6<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NFL on Prime Video (@NFLonPrime) May 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Both schedules seem to be just right in terms of quality; mostly desirable games with a few weaker weeks here and there. Neither broadcaster should have much to complain about.<\/p>\n

Loser: NBC<\/p>\n

If there has to be a loser, NBC\u2019s Sunday Night Football would probably be the package that underperformed its billing the most. As the premier NFL package, Sunday Night Football is rightly held to a higher standard than its peers. And while NBC got its fair share of quality games, a lot of the matchups look underwhelming on paper.<\/p>\n

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Sunday Night Football on NBC and Peacock \u2013 15-Time #1 primetime show \u2013 unveils 2026 schedule headlined by Patrick Mahomes vs. Josh Allen on Thanksgiving Night, Patriots-Seahawks in NFL Kickoff, Cowboys-Packers, Chiefs-Seahawks, Bills-Packers & Eagles-49ers<\/p>\n

Details:\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/TbOJqQL0aU<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) May 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Tell me if any of these games feel like Sunday Night Football-caliber matchups: Lions-Panthers, Ravens-Falcons, Buccaneers-Bears. Sure, we\u2019re picking nits here, but this is the top package in the league. There\u2019s also a lot of question marks down the stretch, perhaps by design, given that those games can be flexed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always really want to focus on the beginning part of the season and how do we get out of the gate in a big way,\u201d NBC Sports exec Justin Byczek told SBJ.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The strategy makes sense. There are protocols in place to ensure bad games don\u2019t end up on Sunday Night Football late in the year. But the Steelers, Vikings, Jaguars, and Cowboys all feature in late-season games. All of those teams could find themselves out of the playoff picture during that period. And the NFL doesn\u2019t want to use its flex-scheduling procedures every week.<\/p>\n

In NBC\u2019s defense, they get the Cowboys three times (the first two early in the season), and the Chiefs twice (thrice if you count Thanksgiving). The network was also able to snag an extra Saturday game in Week 17 with teams TBD. And there are plenty of good matchups, too. Chiefs-Seahawks, Bills-Packers, Eagles-49ers, and of course Chiefs-Bills on Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

But given some of the duds thrown in there, it seems like NBC got the short end of the stick out of the five primary NFL partners this season.<\/p>\n

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