Thursday Night Football
| Thursday Night Football | |
|---|---|
| File:Thursday Night Football logo.png The logo for Thursday Night Football for the 2014 NFL season. | |
| Genre | NFL football telecasts |
| Presented by | Jim Nantz Phil Simms Tracy Wolfson James Brown Bill Cowher Deion Sanders Rich Eisen Ernie Johnson Jr. Marshall Faulk Steve Mariucci Michael Irvin Mike Carey |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 48 |
| Production | |
| Production locations | Various NFL stadiums (game telecasts, pregame, halftime and postgame shows) |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 180 minutes or until game ends |
| Production companies | National Football League NFL Network (2006–2014) CBS Sports (2014–present) Turner Sports (2015-present) |
| Original release | |
| Network | NFL Network (2006–present) CBS (2014–present) TBS (2015-present) TNT (2015-present) TruTV (2015-present) |
| Release | November 23, 2006 – present |
Thursday Night Football is the branding used for broadcasts of prime time National Football League (NFL) games that are produced by CBS Sports, and broadcast by CBS and the NFL Network and Turner Sports in the United States on Thursdays during the regular season. Debuting on November 23, 2006, the telecasts were originally part of NFL Network's Run to the Playoffs package, which consisted of eight total games broadcast on Thursday and Saturday nights (five on Thursdays, and three on Saturdays) during the latter portion of the season. Most of the games, which are now almost exclusively held on a Thursday, kick off at 8:20 p.m. Eastern Time.
At its launch, the package proved highly controversial mainly due to the relative unavailability of NFL Network at the time; the league used the games as leverage to encourage television providers to carry NFL Network on their basic service tiers, rather than in premium, sports-oriented packages that required subscribers to pay a higher fee; although, as with all other national cable telecasts of NFL games, the league's own regulations require the games to be syndicated to over-the-air television stations in the local markets of the teams. These issues were magnified in 2007, when a game that saw the New England Patriots close out a perfect regular season was simulcast nationally on both CBS and NBC, in addition to NFL Network and the local stations that the game was sold to, following concerns from politicians and other critics.
Since 2012, NFL Network has begun coverage of the Thursday games during the second week of the NFL season. The previous year, it lost the broadcast rights to the Thanksgiving night game, the rights to which were assumed by NBC – which also holds rights to the season-opening Thursday night contest during Week 1 – as part of its Sunday Night Football package.
In 2014, production of the Thursday Night Football games was taken over by CBS Sports, as part of a deal in which CBS would broadcast a total of nine games in simulcast with NFL Network, using the broadcast network's announcing and analyst teams. In addition, NFL Network extended the length of the Thursday telecasts to Week 16 of the season, and added a new Saturday doubleheader split between CBS and NFL Network.[1] On January 18, 2015, CBS and NFL Network extended the same arrangement for a second season.[2] The games are broadcast on radio via Westwood One, which syndicates the broadcasts to its partner radio stations around the United States and is simulcasted on TruTV. The road teams radio networks is simulcasted on TBS. The home teams radio networks is simulcasted on TNT.
Background
Early history
The NFL Network's coverage was not the first time that NFL games were covered on Thursday or Saturday. Prior to the new contract, ESPN carried a handful of sporadic Thursday night games (usually those displaced from Sunday night) and the broadcast networks used to air several national games on Saturday afternoons in mid-to-late December after the college football regular season ended, a practice which has since been discontinued. Incidentally, the only reason the league is even allowed to televise football games on Saturday night stems from a legal loophole: the league's antitrust exemption, the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, was written when the NFL regular season ended in mid-December, and as such, it contains specific language that prohibits televising NFL games in most markets on Friday nights and all day on Saturdays between the second week of September and the second week of December, to protect high school and college football. Since most high school and college seasons have ended by mid-December, other than bowl games, there has been little desire to close this loophole, even though the regular season has expanded well beyond mid-December since the law's passage.
In 2005, when the NFL negotiated a new set of television contracts, Comcast-owned OLN offered to pay $450 million for an eight-year contract to carry NFL prime time games. In exchange, Comcast planned to add NFL Network to its digital cable lineup. The channel was added, but NFL Network decided to air the games itself, foregoing a rights fee.[3] The other television deals generated $3.735 billion per year over an eight-year period for CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN and DirecTV (owner of the out-of-market sports package NFL Sunday Ticket).[citation needed]
Thursday Night Football debuted on November 23, 2006, with the Kansas City Chiefs handing the visiting Denver Broncos a 19–10 Thanksgiving defeat. Each of the game broadcasts were titled either Thursday Night Football or Saturday Night Football, depending on the night on which it aired. This format carried over to the 2007 season.
Starting in 2008, NFL Network eliminated all but one of the Saturday night games and started their Thursday night package three weeks earlier. This was done to accommodate the earlier schedule and the league's antitrust exemption that prohibits Saturday games from being held for most of the season. In the following season, all references to Saturday Night Football were dropped and any games that were not played on Thursday were referred to as a "special edition" of Thursday Night Football; since then, however, relatively few Thursday Night Football games have been played outside of Thursdays.
The Thanksgiving matchup was moved from NFL Network to NBC's broadcast package as part of the new broadcast contract after the 2011 season. During Super Bowl week in 2012, it was announced that the Thursday Night Football package would expand from eight to 13 games and air on NFL Network, again soliciting and rejecting offers from Turner Sports and Comcast.[citation needed]
2014-present: partnership with CBS Sports/Turner Sports
In January 2014, it was reported that the NFL was planning to sub-license a package of up to eight Thursday Night Football games to another broadcaster for the 2014 NFL season. The league had negotiated with its existing broadcast partners, along with Turner Sports. These eight games were to be simulcast by NFL Network, and reports indicated that ESPN planned to place the games on ABC in the event it won the rights, bringing the NFL back to the network for the first time since Super Bowl XL and the move of Monday Night Football to ESPN in 2006.[4][5][6][7] The decision came as the league wished to heighten the profile of its Thursday night games, which had suffered from relatively lower viewership and advertising revenue in comparison to other games.[8]
On February 5, 2014, the NFL announced that CBS had acquired the partial rights to Thursday Night Football for the 2014 season. Under the agreement, all of the Thursday Night Football telecasts would be produced by CBS Sports and called by the network's primary announcing team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. The first eight games of the season were simulcast nationally on NFL Network and CBS; the remaining games in the package only aired nationally on NFL Network, but per league broadcast polices, were simulcast on local stations in the participating teams' markets. CBS affiliates were given right of first refusal to air the local simulcast before it is offered to another station (as had occurred in Cincinnati, Ohio where the market's NBC affiliate WLWT aired a game between the Bengals and the Cleveland Browns instead of CBS affiliate WKRC-TV). A Saturday doubleheader was also added on Week 16: NFL Network aired the early game, while CBS aired the second, prime time game.[9][10][11][12][13]
The NFL considered CBS's bid to be the most attractive, owing to the network's overall ratings stature (CBS had been the highest-rated broadcast network in the U.S. since the 2005-06 television sesason), a commitment to aggressively promote the Thursday games across its properties, and its plans to utilize CBS Sports' top NFL talent and production staff across all of the games in the package to ensure a major improvement in quality over the previous, in-house productions.[8] CBS staff also cited experience with its joint coverage of the NCAA Men's basketball tournament with Turner Sports as an advantage in its collaboration with NFL Network staff, as talent from both networks collaborate on pre-game, halftime and post-game coverage. During the games, a distinct graphics package co-branded with both CBS and NFL Network logos is used, certain players on each team wear microphones, and 4K cameras are used to allow zoom-in shots during instant replays.[14][12]
With the move of selected games to CBS, media executives expected more major match-ups to appear on Thursday Night Football than in previous years in order to attract better viewership; in the past, Thursday Night Football had been criticized for often featuring games between lesser and poorer-performing teams.[15][15][16][16] CBS and the NFL unveiled the games scheduled for Thursday Night Football in April 2014; CBS's slate of games featured a number of major divisional rivalries, including New York Giants–Washington, Green Bay–Minnesota, and its opening game on September 11, 2014, featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens.[11][17]
In the wake of the controversy surrounding Ravens player Ray Rice (who had been removed from the team and suspended from the NFL earlier in the week following the discovery of footage showing the player physically assaulting his wife, Janay, who was engaged to Rice at the time the security camera footage was recorded), changes were made to pre-game coverage on the first game in order to accommodate additional interviews and discussion related to the incident. Among these changes were the removal of an introductory segment featuring Rihanna (who was similarly assaulted by fellow performer Chris Brown in 2009) performing her song "Run This Town".[18][19] Following complaints by Rihanna on Twitter regarding the removal, the song was pulled entirely from future broadcasts, a move that was criticized by some as an inadvertent form of victim shaming.[20]
The contract, valued at $275 million, initially lasted for one season; on January 18, 2015, the NFL announced that it would renew the arrangement with CBS for the 2015 season.[2][8]
Coverage
Game announcers
Bryant Gumbel served as play-by-play announcer from 2006 to 2007, resigning in early 2008; he was replaced by Bob Papa. Cris Collinsworth was the color commentator until taking over for John Madden as lead analyst on NBC Sunday Night Football in 2009; Matt Millen succeeded him that year, with Joe Theismann joining as a second analyst in 2010. Brad Nessler (on play-by-play) and Mike Mayock have called the Thursday night games since 2011. There was no sideline reporter until 2009 when Scott Hanson assumed that role; Adam Schefter and Marshall Faulk of NFL Total Access have also contributed from the field at various times. Dick Vermeil served as color commentator for Saturday games in 2006.
As a result of CBS taking over production responsibilities for the Thursday Night Football broadcasts, Jim Nantz (as play-by-play announcer) and Phil Simms (as color commentator) began calling the games for the 2014 season.[13]
Pregame, halftime and postgame coverage
Each game telecast is preceded on NFL Network by NFL Total Access Kickoff, which broadcasts live from the site of each game and currently features Rich Eisen as its host, with Steve Mariucci, Deion Sanders, Michael Irvin and either Marshall Faulk or Kurt Warner as analysts. The show generally begins two hours before game time (6:00 p.m. Eastern Time). The same Total Access team hosts the halftime and postgame shows.
The game proper is preceded by Thursday Night Kickoff, hosted by James Brown and Deion Sanders. CBS joins Thursday Night Kickoff in-progress at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time during its games.[14] This has resulted in some controversy among viewers and the producers of syndicated programming in the locally programmed timeslot before network primetime, where the pre-game affects programs such as Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy! and Entertainment Tonight (all distributed by CBS's sister syndication division CBS Television Distribution), along with several other programs, which then require pre-emption or slotting on lower-profile alternate timeslots or stations to air in markets where they are carried by CBS affiliates in order to accommodate the Thursday games.[21]
Radio coverage
Westwood One provides national radio broadcasts of the Thursday Night Football games, with Ian Eagle calling play-by-play, Mike Mayock handling color analysis and Hub Arkush as the sideline reporter.[22]
Game announcers
Television
Current
- Pre-game show
- Primary
- James Brown – host (2014–present)
- Bill Cowher – analyst (2014–present)
- Deion Sanders – analyst (2006–present)
- Secondary
- Rich Eisen – host (2006–2014) co-host (2015-present)
- Marshall Faulk – analyst (2006–present)
- Michael Irvin – analyst (2011–present)
- Steve Mariucci – analyst (2006–present)
- Ernie Johnson Jr. co-host (2015-present)
- Game coverage
- Mike Carey – NFL rules expert (2014–present)
- Jenny Dell – sideline reporter (2014–present)
- Ian Eagle – play-by-play (2014–present)
- Dan Fouts – color analyst (2014–present)
- Rich Gannon – color analyst (2014–present)
- Kevin Harlan – play-by-play (2014–present)
- Jim Nantz – play-by-play (2014–present)
- Phil Simms – color analyst (2014–present)
- Tracy Wolfson – sideline reporter (2014–present)
Former
- Fran Charles – pre-game host (2010)
- Cris Collinsworth – color analyst (2006–2008)
- Alex Flanagan – sideline reporter (2010–2013)
- Jay Glazer – pre-game analyst (2010–2011)
- Bryant Gumbel – play-by-play (2006–2007)
- Tom Hammond – substitute play-by-play (2007)
- Scott Hanson – sideline reporter (2009)
- Kara Henderson – pre-game host (2011)
- Harry Kalas – sponsorship announcer (2006–2008; deceased)
- Mike Mayock – color analyst (2011–2013)
- Matt Millen – color analyst (2009–2010)
- Jim Mora – pre-game analyst (2010)
- Brad Nessler – play-by-play (2011–2013)
- Bob Papa – play-by-play (2008–2010)
- Warren Sapp – pre-game analyst (2008)
- Adam Schefter – sideline reporter (2006–2008)
- Sterling Sharpe – pre-game analyst (2010–2011)
- Pat Summerall – sponsorship announcer (2009; deceased)
- Joe Theismann – color analyst (2010)
- Kurt Warner – pre-game analyst (2010–2011)
- Dick Vermeil – Saturday color analyst (2006)
Radio
Current
- Ian Eagle – play-by-play (2008–present)
- Mike Mayock – color analyst (2014–present)
Former
- Bonnie Bernstein – sideline reporter (2006–2007)
- Randy Cross – color analyst (2009)
- Dick Enberg – play-by-play (2006–2007)
- Dennis Green – color analyst (2007–2008)
- Sam Wyche – color analyst (2006)
Results
Thursday Night Football all-time team standings
This list shows the National Football League teams' all-time standings in the games they played on Thursday Night Football.
Standings are current as of December 28, 2013.
| Team | Games Played | Wins | Losses | Ties | Win Pct. | First Appearance | Most Recent Appearance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis Colts | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1.000 | November 22, 2007 defeated Atlanta 31-13 |
October 9, 2014 defeated Houston 33-28 | |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 4 | 3 | 1 | .750 | November 23, 2006 defeated Denver 19-10 |
November 20, 2014 lost to Oakland 24-20 | |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 7 | 5 | 2 | .714 | December 7, 2006 defeated Cleveland 27-7 |
September 11, 2014 lost to Baltimore Ravens 26-6 | |
| New York Jets | 5 | 3 | 2 | .600 | November 13, 2008 defeated New England 34-31 |
September 12, 2013 lost to New England 13-10 | |
| San Diego Chargers | 5 | 4 | 1 | .800 | December 4, 2008 defeated Oakland 34-7 |
December 12, 2013 defeated Denver 27-20 | |
| Dallas Cowboys | 8 | 6 | 2 | .750 | December 16, 2006 defeated Atlanta 38-28 |
December 4, 2014 defeated Chicago 41-28 | |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 6 | 3 | 3 | .500 | November 27, 2008 defeated Arizona 48-20 |
September 19, 2013 lost to Kansas City 26-16 | |
| New York Giants | 6 | 4 | 2 | .667 | December 30, 2006 defeated Washington 34-28 |
September 25, 2014 defeated Washington 45-14 | |
| San Francisco 49ers | 7 | 5 | 2 | .714 | December 14, 2006 defeated Seattle 24-14 |
September 26, 2013 defeated St. Louis 35-11 | |
| Denver Broncos | 8 | 5 | 3 | .625 | November 23, 2006 lost to Kansas City 19-10 |
December 12, 2013 lost to San Diego 27-20 | |
| Atlanta Falcons | 6 | 4 | 2 | .667 | December 16, 2006 lost to Dallas 38-28 |
September 18, 2014 defeated Buccaneers 56-14 | |
| Chicago Bears | 8 | 4 | 4 | .500 | December 6, 2007 lost to Washington 24-16 |
December 4, 2014 lost to Dallas 41-28 | |
| Baltimore Ravens | 5 | 3 | 2 | .600 | November 30, 2006 lost to Cincinnati 13-7 |
September 11, 2014 defeated Pittsburgh 26-6 | |
| Seattle Seahawks | 4 | 2 | 2 | .500 | December 14, 2006 lost to San Francisco 24-14 |
October 17, 2013 defeated Arizona 34-22 | |
| Green Bay Packers | 4 | 3 | 1 | .750 | December 21, 2006 defeated Minnesota 9-7 |
October 2, 2014 defeated Minnesota 42-10 | |
| Arizona Cardinals | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | November 27, 2008 lost to Philadelphia 48-20 |
October 17, 2013 lost to Seattle 34-22 | |
| Washington Redskins | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | December 30, 2006 lost to N.Y. Giants 34-28 |
September 25, 2014 lost to N.Y. Giants 45-14 | |
| New England Patriots | 3 | 2 | 1 | .667 | December 29, 2007 defeated N.Y. Giants 38-35 |
September 13, 2013 defeated N.Y. Jets 13-10 | |
| Miami Dolphins | 5 | 3 | 2 | .600 | November 19, 2009 defeated Carolina 24-17 |
November 13, 2014 defeated Buffalo 22-9 | |
| Houston Texans | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | December 13, 2007 defeated Denver 31-13 |
October 9, 2014 lost to Indianapolis 33-28 | |
| Oakland Raiders | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | December 23, 2006 lost to Kansas City 20-9 |
November 20, 2014 defeated Kansas City 24-20 | |
| Cleveland Browns | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | December 7, 2006 lost to Pittsburgh 27-7 |
October 3, 2013 defeated Buffalo 37-24 | |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | November 30, 2006 defeated Baltimore 13-7 |
October 31, 2013 lost to Miami 22-20 | |
| Carolina Panthers | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | December 22, 2007 lost to Dallas 20-13 |
October 24, 2013 defeated Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-13 | |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | December 18, 2008 lost to Indianapolis 31-24 |
December 5, 2013 defeatedHouston 27-20 | |
| Tennessee Titans | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | December 25, 2009 lost to San Diego 42-17 |
November 14, 2013 lost to Indianapolis 30-27 | |
| New Orleans Saints | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | December 11, 2008 lost to Chicago 27-24 |
October 30, 2014 defeated Carolina 28-10 | |
| St. Louis Rams | 4 | 2 | 2 | .500 | December 20, 2007 lost to Pittsburgh 41-24 |
September 26, 2013 lost to San Francisco 35-11 | |
| Buffalo Bills | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | December 3, 2009 lost to N.Y. Jets 19-13 |
November 13, 2014 lost to Miami 22-9 | |
| Minnesota Vikings | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | December 21, 2006 lost to Green Bay 9-7 |
October 2, 2014 lost to Green Bay 42-10 | |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | December 17, 2011 lost to Dallas 31-15 |
September 18, 2014 lost to Atlanta 56-14 | |
| Detroit Lions | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Reception
Carriage
Upon the original launch of the Thursday and Saturday night games, few television service providers carried the NFL Network due to disputes during the network's terms in its carriage contracts during negotiations. These disputes were magnified throughout the 2007 season, as two high-profile matchups were to be broadcast by the network. The match-up between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers, both with a 10-1 season record at the time, drew large attention to the issue; the fact that such a high-profile matchup would be unavailable to a majority of the country was seen as unacceptable to fans. This controversy was surpassed when NBC and CBS were given rights to simulcast the New England Patriots' season finale against the New York Giants, as they were 15–0 and vying to be the first team to finish the regular season with a perfect 16–0 record; the controversy was centered around the networks' actions denying exclusive over-the-air rights to local stations WWOR-TV in New York City and WCVB-TV in Boston, which were the Giants' and Patriots' respective local over-the-air broadcasters for cable-televised games (the game aired on these stations, as well as on WCBS-TV, WNBC, WBZ-TV and WHDH in the teams' market areas).[23]
Game quality and viewership
Thursday Night Football games on NFL Network are among the lowest-rated nationally televised NFL broadcasts. Critics have argued that the games televised on Thursday Night Football have been of lower quality than other prime time games, as they often featured match-ups between lesser or poor-performing teams, and that the shortened rest between games triggered by Thursday games also has an effect on their overall quality.[15][16] In an analysis by Sports on Earth writer Aaron Roberts, it was determined that that most Thursday games were of average or above-average quality in comparison to normal, non-prime time games, but that this was "by design" due to the leverage of other NFL broadcasters on how games are scheduled throughout the season (which traditionally prioritizes "major" games for either late-afternoon or Sunday/Monday nights).[24][25]
The move of selected games to CBS brought improved ratings: the inaugural game was the highest-rated program of the night, with an audience share of 13.7 and an average of 20.7 million viewers, representing a 108% increase in ratings over the first NFL Network game in 2013. The game, whose ratings were boosted by coverage of the Ray Rice scandal, also brought CBS its highest prime time ratings on a Thursday night since May 2006. While lower, at 9.6 million viewers, the Week 3 game between the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers was also the highest-rated program of the night.[26][27][28][29] The first four games of the package, however, resulted in blowout victories, and are still relatively lesser-viewed than the NFL's flagship Sunday night games.[30][31] In total, average viewership of the games increased from around 7 million to around 11.8 million in the 2014 season.[32]
Player safety
As mentioned, a team needing to play a Thursday night game can result in a shortened rest period for players between games.[15][16] On October 6, 2014, Arian Foster of the Houston Texans made a statement considering it hypocritical for the NFL to emphasize the safety of players (particularly in regards to concussions) while allowing its players to play a game on only three days' rest, which he considered to be equally "dangerous".[31]
On January 29, 2015, the NFL released its health and safety report, which states that an average of 4.8 injuries were sustained during Thursday games compared to 6.9 injuries per game on Sundays and Mondays.[33]
See also
References
- ^ "NFL 2014 Thursday Night Football Schedule - NFL.com". National Football League. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
- ^ a b Brian Steinberg (January 18, 2015). "CBS, NFL Renew Deal For 'Thursday Night Football'". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ John Ourand (January 25, 2009). "Why NFL Network is on the sidelines". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
- ^ "N.F.L. Explores New TV Deal". The New York Times. January 13, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
- ^ "Sources: NFL Wants Thursday Games Simulcast On NFL Network". Sports Business Journal. January 15, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
- ^ "Sources: ABC Planning To Bid For Thursday Night NFL Package". Sports Business Journal. January 16, 2014. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
- ^ "NFL Expected to Receive Bids to Air Thursday Games". The Wall Street Journal. January 15, 2014. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
- ^ a b c "How CBS won Thursday night". Sports Business Daily. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
- ^ "Panthers' blowout loss sinks TV interest, too". Charlotte Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
- ^ "Bengals-Browns game on WLWT-TV on Thursday". Cincinnati.com. Gannett Company. November 3, 2014. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
- ^ a b "Rivalries Abound in CBS Thursday Night Football Slate". Adweek. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
- ^ a b "CBS to broadcast eight Thursday night football games in 2014". CBS Sports. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
- ^ a b "CBS to broadcast NFL games on Thursday in 2014". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
- ^ a b "CBS, NFL Network Begin Final Push for Thursday Night Football Launch". Sports Video Group. August 21, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Execs expect strong NFL slate for CBS". Sports Business Journal. April 7, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Dan Levy. "Is Thursday Night Football Hurting the NFL Brand?". Bleacher Report. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
- ^ "2014 NFL Thursday Night Football schedule". Eye on Football. CBSSports.com. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
- ^ "CBS announces changes to TNF coverage in wake of Ray Rice saga". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
- ^ "The Ray-Riceless Ravens are playing Pittsburgh tonight. The opening act is Rihanna". The Washington Post. September 11, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
- ^ "Rihanna Dropped From Thursday Night Football After She Slams NFL and CBS". Time. September 16, 2014. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
- ^ Timothy Burke (December 12, 2014). "How CBS And The NFL Teamed Up To Screw Wheel Of Fortune And Jeopardy!". Deadspin. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
- ^ "NFL Announcers". Westwood One Sports. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
- ^ Dusty Saunders (January 2, 2008). "COMMENTARY : Antitrust threat prompted NFL's reversal". Rocky Mountain News. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Archived from the original on February 10, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
- ^ "By design, Thursday Night Football is merely average". Sports On Earth. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
- ^ "Thursday Night Blights". Sports On Earth. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
- ^ "CBS' 'Thursday Night Football' Easily Dominates Thursday Ratings". Variety. Penske Media Company. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
- ^ "'Thursday Night Football' ratings up from last year, down from last week". SBNation. Vox Media. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
- ^ "CBS gets 13.7 rating, up 108 percent, for Ravens-Steelers". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
- ^ "Bucs Turning Point, Week 3: Worst Thursday Night Football game ever". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
- ^ "Thursday Night Football a mixed bag in the TV ratings". Sporting News. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
- ^ a b Brian Smith (October 6, 2014). "Texans' Arian Foster says NFL Thursday night games are dangerous, hypocritical". The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
- ^ "Thursday Night Football package saw viewer increase this season". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ Darin Gantt (January 29, 2015). "NFL health and safety report says concussions, ACLs are down". Pro Football Talk. Retrieved January 30, 2015.