As we close in on the 50-percent mark (that’s half, for those unfamiliar with the concept of percentages) of the regular season nearly in the can, the playoffs are coming. And it’s still not known where the last game of the first round will be televised.
In 2021, the NFL moved one of the six wild-card games to Monday night. ESPN has been the exclusive home for the Monday night playoff game. ESPN’s contractual right to that expired last year.
As noted by Drew Lerner of Awful Announcing, the TGL schedule on ESPN highlights the uncertainty as to whether ESPN will, or won’t, be televising an NFL game on Monday night, January 18.
Last year, Fox, CBS, NBC, Prime Video, and ESPN televised wild-card games. If the Monday night game remains available to anyone, any of them could land the game — for the right price.
It’s also possible, in theory, that Netflix could swoop in and snatch the game. That’s how Netflix has been unveiling its NFL strategy in recent years. When no one expects it, boom, here’s Netflix with another game to “eventize.”
The Monday night game would fit the current Netflix aspirations. And, with six first-round games and six partners at the table, each of them could end up with one wild-card game.
For fans, it doesn’t matter much. The game will be on somewhere. For the networks, the prospect of getting the Monday night game matters plenty.