Who Plays Thursday Night Football in the NFL?
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Keep up with Thursday Night Football in the NFL by following this blog. We’ll keep you updated on who’s playing, what time the game starts, and who’s favored to win.
Introduction
Thursday Night Football is a professional American football television program that airs on Thursdays during the National Football League (NFL) regular season.
History of Thursday Night Football
Thursday Night Football (TNF) is a weekly television broadcast of National Football League (NFL) games that primarily takes place on Thursday nights. Most of the games kickoff at 8:20 p.m. Eastern Time, but some games in the early season air at 7:20 p.m. Eastern Time. TNF started in 2006 as a way to bring more exposure to NFL teams outside of their traditional Sunday afternoon games.
The NFL Network airs all TNF games, which are also simulcast on over-the-air television in the home markets of the participating teams. In addition, Amazon Prime Video has exclusive rights to stream TNF games globally.
Since its inception, TNF has become one of the most watched television programs in the United States and has helped grow the popularity of the sport around the world.
Current Teams Playing
Currently, there are eight teams playing in the NFL on Thursday nights. These teams are the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals,Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints, and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Why the NFL Plays on Thursday Nights
The NFL has been playing games on Thursday nights since 2006. There are a number of reasons why the NFL decided to start playing games on Thursday nights.
Primarily, the NFL wanted to increase its television ratings. By adding another night of football, the NFL knew that it would draw in more viewers. And, indeed, the ratings for Thursday Night Football have been strong since the beginning.
In addition, playing games on Thursday nights gives the NFL a chance to showcase some of its best teams. Because Thursday Night Football is broadcast on NBC, which is one of the major networks that carry NFL games, the league can use Thursday Night Football to show off some of its most popular teams and most talented players. This helps to increase interest in the sport overall.
Finally, playing games on Thursday nights gives NFL players a chance to rest and recover from injuries sustained during Sunday’s games. With only four days between games, players need all the time they can get to heal up and get ready for the next game.
So, there are a number of reasons why the NFL decided to start playing games on Thursdays. The league has seen great success with Thursday Night Football and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.
Ratings for Thursday Night Football
TV ratings for Thursday Night Football have been declining in recent years, as have ratings for the NFL in general. But Thursday Night Football still brings in a lot of viewers, and it’s one of the most-watched shows on television.
The ratings for Thursday Night Football slipped again in 2018, averaging 11.2 million viewers per game. That’s down from the 12.9 million average in 2017 and the 14.6 million average in 2016.
Still, Thursday Night Football is one of the most-watched shows on television. It finished 2018 as the sixth-most watched show on TV, behind only Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football, The Big Bang Theory, NCIS and This Is Us.
Conclusion
From the above table, it is evident that there are some teams which have a dominant record on Thursday night games while there are some other teams which have a very poor record. Nevertheless, it can be said that any team can win on any given day and this notion applies to Thursday night football matches as well.
