NFL Exec: Taylor Swift, Orioles Playoff Run Among Things to Affect 2024 Schedule

An NFL executive says the league took into consideration other schedules, including those of Taylor Swift and the Baltimore Orioles, when planning the 2024 season.

The 2024 NFL schedule was released Wednesday night after a "pretty typical" planning process, NFL VP of Broadcast Planning and Scheduling Mike North told Rich Eisen on Thursday's episode of The Rich Eisen Show.

Weekend schedules in Miami, New Orleans and Indianapolis were impacted by Swift's tour schedule, while a Green Day concert impacted a weekend at the Los Angeles Rams' and Chargers' SoFi Stadium, North said.

North added that there was "no truth" to rumors that the NFL purposefully scheduled the Chiefs to play at the Buffalo Bills on a date that coincides with Swift's concert in nearby Toronto.

The NFL did take into consideration which MLB teams are projected to play past the end of their regular season, North said.

"For years, we were able to kind of ignore the Orioles as we think about the Ravens' October schedule," North said. "Those days are probably gone now."

That led to the Ravens playing on the road three times in October, North said.

North added that the league also takes into consideration NASCAR races, MLS matches and college football games slated to take place in football stadiums.

Not everything was business as usual for the NFL schedule planners this season, however. North said that the round robin planned around the holidays presented a "unique challenge" for the league.

"You had to find four teams that all played each other, home-and-away for each, that we could count on here in May that we thought were going to be able to hold down national television windows in Weeks 16 and 17," North said.

Other high-caliber matchups are scheduled for earlier in the season in order to guarantee the competitors remain in postseason contention at the time of the game. North said that's what drove the league to schedule an early Super Bowl rematch by sending the Kansas City Chiefs to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7.