While new players in the league and players on new rosters will be key storylines for the 2024 NFL season, another top story will be the Kansas City Chiefs attempting to be the first NFL team to win three straight Super Bowls.
What Happened: The NFL released its 2024 schedule on Wednesday, which includes primetime television games and two new games on Christmas Day through a new media partnership with Netflix Inc NFLX.
Here's a look at how media companies could win big with the 2024 NFL season.
Netflix came away as a winner, gaining rights to NFL games for the first time. The company will stream two games on Christmas Day, including an early game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers and a later game between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans. All four of these teams made the playoffs in the 2023 NFL season.
Comcast Corporation CMCSA is in for a busy week to start the 2024 NFL season. The company will air Thursday Night Football in Week 1, featuring a major AFC Championship Game rematch between the Ravens and Chiefs. Comcast will exclusively stream a Week 1 Friday game between the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil. It will also air Sunday Night Football featuring a 2023 playoffs rematch between the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions.
In the 2023 NFL playoffs, Comcast exclusively streamed a game on Peacock between the Chiefs and Miami Dolphins, which was watched by an average of 23 million viewers, setting new livestreaming records.
Fox Corporation FOXFOXA could get a boost during the 2024 NFL season and not just because it will be broadcasting Super Bowl LIX. The media company will welcome NFL great Tom Brady to the broadcast booth. Brady will be on duty for the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns Week 1 matchup at 4:25 p.m. ET. Fox will also air a rematch between the San Francisco 49ers and Chiefs on Oct. 20 in a 4:25 p.m. ET game.
Amazon.com Inc AMZN has seen success with its rights to to air Thursday Night Football and has a full slate of games for the 2024 season. The company also has a Black Friday exclusive streaming game for the second straight season, featuring the Las Vegas Raiders and Chiefs on Nov. 29.
The Walt Disney Company DIS has rights to air Monday Night Football and will air a key matchup in Week 1 between the New York Jets at 49ers. The Jets are set to welcome back quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was hurt in the first game of the previous season.
In 2023, 45 of the most watched primetime telecasts were NFL games, according to Variety. Outside of the Super Bowl and NFL playoffs, which ranked as the top five games, Comcast led with games ranked 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.
The Jets, 49ers and Cowboys lead the way with six primetime matchups each, followed by the Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Packers, Lions, Cincinnati Bengals, Ravens, Eagles, Dolphins and Rams at five games each.
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Taylor Swift Impact: The Chiefs saw a boost in viewership during the 2023 NFL season, possibly due to Taylor Swift attending several games to watch her boyfriend, Chiefs' tight end Travis Kelce.
According to a report from ESPN, the NFL considered Swift's Eras Tour when making the 2024 schedule. The news comes with a catch though, as three NFL stadiums are hosting nine shows during the tour, which makes it impossible for the Dolphins, New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts to be home during certain weeks of the season.
The league said that, outside of those cities and dates, it didn't consider the tour. This includes the Chiefs playing at Buffalo on Nov. 17, when Swift plays 111 miles away in Toronto. Swift plays six Toronto shows between Nov. 14 and Nov. 23 and does not play on Nov. 17.
"We certainly considered the tour dates that hit NFL stadiums," NFL VP of Broadcast Planning Mike North said. "One thing we didn't consider, I saw a lot of conspiracy theorists talking about Kansas City at Buffalo in the middle of the season, right when Taylor's playing Toronto. That one definitely did not hit our radar screen."
Betting Odds: The schedule’s release often doesn't have a huge impact on the overall betting favorites to win the Super Bowl but can sometimes impact win/loss totals. Here are the current betting odds for Super Bowl LIX (59) from sportsbook DraftKings Inc DKNG, with the odds from February in parentheses.
Kansas City Chiefs: +550 (+650)
San Francisco 49ers: +600 (+550)
Baltimore Ravens: +900 (+900)
Detroit Lions: +1,200 (+1,200)
Buffalo Bills: +1,200 (+1,000)
Cincinnati Bengals: +1,300 (+1,300)
Houston Texans: +1,600 (+2,200)
Philadelphia Eagles: +1,700 (+2,000)
Dallas Cowboys: +1,700 (+2,000)
Green Bay Packers: +1,900 (+2,000)
The Chiefs are now the betting favorites to win a third straight Super Bowl, followed closely by the 49ers. The Dolphins fell out of the top 10 in Super Bowl odds after being ranked seventh in February. The odds for the Texans and Eagles improved thanks to key free agent signings.
Week 1 betting lines are out. The early games see the Chiefs favored by three points against the Ravens and the Eagles favored by one point against the Packers. The Bengals are the biggest Week 1 favorite at -8.5 against the New England Patriots.
Read Next: Netflix To Stream 2 NFL Christmas Day Games: Analyst Sees Strong Growth Potential
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