What Does the NFL Have Against Labor Day?

There's really only one question I have about the NFL's newly-expanded 17-game regular season: What do they have against Labor Day Weekend?  The addition of the 17th game wasn't unexpected.  Everyone knew it was gonna happen.  It was really just a matter of how they were gonna do it and whether the extra game would be added at the beginning or the end.

They chose the end, scheduling Week 18 for the first Sunday in January and pushing the start of the playoffs back a week.  Which means the Super Bowl will be moving from the first Sunday in February to the second Sunday in February starting this season.  While that may not seem like that big a deal, it actually creates a tremendous ripple effect.  The NFL doesn't and shouldn't care about that.  But they could've made all of their TV partners' lives easier had they just moved Week 1 to Labor Day Weekend, where it was for years!

It's only been about 20 years since the NFL stopped playing on Labor Day Weekend.  (I even remember some seasons that had August 31 openers.)  Until they moved the Super Bowl to February in the 2003 season, Week 1 was always on Labor Day Weekend.  Since then, of course, the NFL's traditional opener has been the Super Bowl champion playing a home game on the Thursday night after Labor Day.  That'll still be the case, as the Bucs will open up on Thursday, September 9 (if I had to guess, I'd say there opponent will be the Saints).

I've never really understood why the NFL doesn't want to play on Labor Day Weekend.  The most common reason I've seen for this is that they think no one would watch or go to games then.  It's the "last weekend of summer," so, the thought is people will be taking vacations or enjoying those final days before the kids go back to school.  That, along with the national Thursday night opener now being a permanent part of the schedule, resulted in the move to the following week for the start of the season.

Personally, I've always found that argument a little weak.  College football starts on Labor Day Weekend, and the attendance/ratings for those games are just fine.  Just like they would be if the NFL had games that weekend.  And even if they don't, so what?  It's Week 1!  Besides, Week 1 ratings are typically lower anyway.

However, the NFL has made its choice, and it looks like Labor Day Weekend games won't be returning anytime soon (if ever).  Instead, they're pushing everything back a week and ending the season in January.  I'd assume that also means Training Camp will start later, seeing as they're playing one fewer preseason game.  (Unless they're giving everyone a bye week between the end of the preseason and start of the regular season, which actually wouldn't be a bad idea.)

While it's not official yet, there are elements of the new TV contracts that seem likely to happen that were only possible by putting the extra week at the end.  One of them is a Monday night game to conclude the Wild Card round.  This season, they had to do the back-to-back tripleheaders on Saturday and Sunday (which were awesome!) because the College Football Playoff National Championship was on that Monday night.  That's no longer an issue if the playoffs start a week later.  The CFP National Championship then, in effect, becomes the Week 18 Monday night game.

Of course, the biggest change that is a result of the NFL's additional week is the Super Bowl date.  The possibility of the Super Bowl being played on Valentine's Day doesn't just exist, it's inevitable.  (It won't happen for the first time until 2027, so you've got six years to come up with your excuses guys!)  Some people have pointed out that there could end up being a three-day weekend when the Super Bowl and President's Day line up, which is a good thing.  But that doesn't change how much of a ripple effect moving the Super Bowl creates.

The two biggest events that will have to adjust are the Daytona 500 and NBA All-Star Game.  In normal, non-pandemic-effected seasons, the NBA All-Star Game is usually the Sunday after the Super Bowl.  That can still be the case.  But that's now the third Sunday in February, not the second.  Daytona's a little more flexible.  NASCAR has moved its date around before, but they seem to have settled on the second Sunday in February, as well.  Not anymore.  They'll have to move it back a week now.

Then there's the Winter Olympics.  They only take place every four years, but when they do, they always take place in February.  The USOPC and NBC have a lot of pull with the IOC, but they don't control the dates of the Games.  Until now, the Winter Olympics and Super Bowl have always avoided a conflict.  That was going to change this upcoming season, when the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics will be on February 4, two days before the original date of Super Bowl LV.

Now that conflict cannot be avoided.  There are only four Sundays in February.  The Winter Olympics take place on three of them, and those three obviously have to be consecutive.  So there's no way for them to NOT be on the second Sunday.  Which means there's no way for the two major sporting events NOT to conflict moving forward.

Fortunately, ABC has been added to the Super Bowl rotation in the new TV contract, which helps them avoid what could've been a nightmare scenario.  The networks have a gentlemen's agreement not to counter program the Super Bowl.  But NBC also pays an awful lot to broadcast the Olympics.  The new four-year Super Bowl rotation solves that potential problem...because NBC's turn will be the Olympic year.

How NBC will handle covering both the Super Bowl and Olympics at the same time remains to be seen, but we'll find out in February.  (I've heard suggestions that they might simply move their Olympic coverage to cable, but considering the Games are in Beijing, I think it makes more sense to simply start their "prime time" coverage at 10:30 when the Super Bowl is over.)  It's not like they haven't worked another major February sporting event around the Winter Olympics, either.  They've previously had both the NASCAR and NBA contracts, so they had a similar issue with the NBA All-Star Game in 2002 and Daytona 500 in 2006.

Don't think that the rescheduling of the already-awarded Super Bowls hasn't created problems, either.  The next Super Bowl in New Orleans was supposed to be LVIII in 2024.  Except, now that the game is scheduled for February 11 instead of February 4, it conflicts with Mardi Gras.  As a result, New Orleans is being pushed back a year (Mardi Gras isn't until March in 2025) and Super Bowl LVIII will be in a city to be announced (aka. Las Vegas).

Ultimately, none of this matters.  The NFL does what it wants, and the others will have to adjust.  (I haven't even mentioned the Oscars and Grammys.  They also want to take advantage of those Sunday nights during February sweeps and have to work around the sporting events.)  I just wonder if there was any thought to leaving the Super Bowl on its original date and starting Labor Day Weekend instead.

From what I've been able to gather, it doesn't seem like it.  So, instead of the NFL starting its 17-game schedule a week earlier and keeping the Super Bowl dates the same, it'll end a week later and push the Super Bowl back a week.  All just to avoid playing on Labor Day Weekend.  For reasons that are beyond me.