How Are NFL Schedules Determined
The NFL likes to keep a full calendar of events to keep their fans engaged. We’ve been through the Annual Meeting, free agency, and the NFL Draft. Currently off season training is taking place with all of the 32 teams. And according to Ben Fischer of SBJ, the NFL will release the full 2024 NFL schedule at 8pm ET on May 15. So now would be a good time to find out how are NFL Schedules determined. It takes a lot of coordination and not mention thousands of cloud-based computers to come up with the best schedule.
Following is a description of the makeup of the league as detailed by NFL Football Operations:
The 32 teams are split into two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each conference has four divisions: the East, North, South and West divisions; every division has four teams. The NFL’s scheduling formula ensures that all teams will play every team from every division in the other conference once every four years.
Every team will play 17 regular-season games with one bye week. Teams will alternate seasons where they host nine regular-season games and one preseason game. Or eight regular-season games and two preseason games. Once every team’s opponents are set, the schedule makers begin the process of determining when every game will be played. The schedulers also have to take in consideration game times and broadcast partners, international series, and flex scheduling. Those are a lot of factors to work around!
How Are NFL Schedules Determined
Below is a breakdown of how each team’s opponents are set:
- Six games against divisional opponents — two games per team, one at home and one on the road.
- Four games against teams from a division within its conference — two games at home and two on the road.
- Four games against teams from a division in the other conference— two games at home and two on the road.
- Two games against teams from the two remaining divisions in its own conference — one game at home and one on the road. Matchups are based on division ranking from the previous season.
- The 17th game is an additional game against a non-conference opponent from a division that the team is not scheduled to play. Matchups are based on division ranking from the previous season.
Whew! I’m happy to let the folks at NFL Operations handle things.
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