In an election year, even the NFL takes a backseat to politics.
The NFL and NBC have an agreement in principle to move back the start time of the NFL’s Thursday night season opening game to avoid conflicting with Republican presidential candidate John McCain‘s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.
Instead of starting at 8:30 PM ET, as in past years, the game would begin at 7:00 and presumably end by 10:00 — allowing NBC to have one hour of political coverage.
Such an early start means NBC is almost assured lower ratings for the season opener; the game will start as early as 4:00 PM on the West Coast. If tradition holds, the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants will host the game, helping the league avoid an early start time in the host city.
This is not the first time sports has gone head to head with politics. In 2004, TNT aired the NBA’s season opener on Election Night. Ratings for the network’s doubleheader were down 48% from the previous year. In 2000, NBC aired the American League Championship Series opposite coverage of Presidential Debates; the network gave affiliates the option of airing the game on NBC or the PAX channel.
Link to Hollywood Reporter article found via The Sports Business Daily.
