The NFL will release its 2024 regular season schedule on Wednesday at 8 p.m. EST, officially revealing the 272-game slate spanning 18 weeks to determine seeding in the playoffs. Aside from a variety of prime-time matchups in the United States, the league will once again present five international games – three in London, England; one in São Paulo, Brazil and one in Munich, Germany. At the moment, the only complete matchup that has been revealed is for the Week 1 game in Brazil, which will be an NFC showdown between the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles. Sean Pendergast and Seth Payne reacted in real time to the announcement that the Baltimore Ravens would open the NFL season against the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday, Sept. 5, a game that some people speculated would include the Houston Texans.
There is excitement surrounding the schedule release each year, underscored by a 2023 regular season campaign in which games averaged 17.9 million viewers, a 7% year-over-year increase and the best figure since 2015. Tradition grants the defending Super Bowl champions the Thursday night opening matchup that generally includes recognizing the preceding triumph as the team looks to remain at the top of the NFL world. Pendergast described the Ravens being subjected to watching the Chiefs raise a banner, especially when they were defeated in the AFC Championship Game, represents a form of punishment.
“There’s a Wild Card element to the first game of the season too, with all due respect to Andy Reid,” Payne said on Monday’s edition of Payne & Pendergast on SportsRadio 610. “Sometimes there’s wrinkles and there’s things that can happen, especially when you’re the Texans and you haven’t had this three wide receiver formidability that you can unleash some stuff that teams aren’t ready for. I wouldn’t have been scared of it.”
Pendergast acknowledged that Texans fans have had to wait until the night of the schedule release to discover the team’s array of games. The team is expected to contend for a playoff spot this year with quarterback and reigning NFL offensive rookie of the year C.J. Stroud, along with new offensive players in Stefon Diggs and Joe Mixon. Pendergast conjectures that the team will either be granted a Thanksgiving Day matchup against the Dallas Cowboys or one of the international games in London.
“I like the idea of the London game,” Payne said later in the show. “I don’t like it in terms of, for one, it’s not a prime time game. It’s the opposite of a prime time game; they play at like 5 a.m. local. I’m exaggerating there obviously, but it is. It’s a prelude to the rest of the NFL action for the day, so that part’s kind of fun and cool, but it’s not like the schedule makers look at it and think, ‘Ooh, here’s a chance to get C.J. Stroud in front of more eyeballs on national television.’”
NFL Network televised four of the five international games last year and accumulated an average of 5.8 million viewers. The league-owned television entity is currently distributed to approximately 50 million homes. Part of the rationale behind Pendergast’s projection is that the team has road games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings, both of which have been revealed to be home teams for two of the three games taking place in London. The Jaguars also played in London last year during which ESPN+ and Disney+ presented the Toy Story Funday Football broadcast. This alternate presentation featuring real-time animation and commentary accounted for the most-viewed event in ESPN+ history, along with the biggest live event to date on Disney+.
“You’re right,” Pendergast said, concurring with Payne. “For TV, it’s not a marquee TV event. I would say they haven’t even gone out of their way to make sure that they’re sending over the best teams just so there’s more appeal to the live audience in those. Those live audiences don’t care; they’re just, ‘It’s American football. Let’s go!’”
