For the first time in 50 years, the NFL is set to host a Friday night opening weekend game, with the Philadelphia Eagles taking on the Green Bay Packers.
You don’t normally see NFL games on Friday nights, and that was done by design. This Friday’s matchup marks just the third time since 2010 in which the league has scheduled a Friday game.
The NFL broadcasting a Friday game early in the season is unheard of because of the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961.
The league was able to get the Eagles-Packers matchup on a Friday because the NFL basically got extremely lucky that Labor Day fell on Monday, September 2nd. That meant the upcoming weekend wouldn’t be considered the second weekend in September.
Tonight is the first Friday in September, as stated by Chris Vannini of The Athletic.
The NFL can do a Friday night game tonight because the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 protects Friday nights and Saturdays for high school and college football from the 2nd Saturday in September to the 2nd Saturday in December.
Tonight is the first Friday in September.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) September 6, 2024
Since it is the first Friday of the month, the league decided to take advantage of this calendar year to host a Friday game and send the Eagles and Packers outside the country to play their first-ever game in South America.
For a quick history lesson, the league played games on Fridays just 12 times before the 2024 season.
Tonight’s game between the Eagles and Packers will mark the first time it has happened since the NFL’s first post-merger 1970 season in Week 1.
It took 54 years to get her, but how glorious it is.
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No NFL team wants to start the season off slow, specifically the first week.
Unless tonight’s game ends in a tie, the Packers or Eagles will be fighting from behind after Friday’s contest.
The Eagles are coming off a 2023 campaign where they started the year 10-1 before they collapsed and only won one game for the rest of the year.
The Packers are coming off a year where they defeated the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild card round to become the first seven seed to win a playoff game.
