The Art & Science of Making NFL Schedule with Mike North | Schrager Hour

Mike North is the VP of broadcast planning at the NFL and for 32 years has worked on the making of the NFL schedule. In this episode, Peter and Mike discuss all of the key stakeholders -- Netflix, Amazon, Fox, CBS, Disney, ESPN, YouTube, 32 different NFL teams, coaches, and fan bases-- as well as international partners, and how the schedule was made. This conversation evolves from a football, one to a media, Tech, and big business one. North is excellent and an open book, and the schedule is just the starting point of one that involves satisfying multiple important parties, utilizing AI, and fielding multiple requests from influential voices.

Timecodes:
0:00 Welcome To The Schrager Hour!
2:42 VP of NFL Broadcast Planning Mike North Joins The Schrager Hour
3:57 Feelings After The Schedule is Released
4:53 Thoughts on Schedule Leaked before Release Show
9:42 Broncos have earned quality Prime Time Games
10:34 Fact or Myth: International games have watered down Sunday Prime Time Games
12:16 Are teams clamoring for International Games
13:58 Strategy of teams playing International Games
15:30 Does Live Football trump NFL Pregame shows
17:10 Art and Science of Making NFL Schedule
18:37 Using Scientific Advancements to make NFL Schedule
23:33 Satisfying Broadcasting and Streaming Partners
25:29 Growing Popularity of Thanksgiving Week Games
30:06 Rams with most Prime Time Games
32:30 Raiders, Cardinals and Jets with no Prime Time Games
34:05 MNF Double Headers a thing of the past
36:03 Broadcast TV is still the predominant outlet for NFL
40:44 Decision making on who gets what game
42:14 How much fans care about scheduling
45:37 Networks Broadcasting NFL in creative ways
47:55 Giving Thanks to all NFL Scheduling Contributors
52:32 Mike North has questions for Peter
59:28 Debate on what Season Opener Should Be
1:01:26 Week 18 Scheduling deserves it's own show
1:06:00 Wrapping Up The Schrager Hour
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