NFL Exec: Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs Have Maybe 'the Hardest Schedule in the League'

The back-to-back reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs are attempting to complete the first three-peat in NFL history, but they will face a tough road to get there.

NFL vice president of broadcast planning Mike North admitted to ESPN's Adam Schefter that the NFL "maybe gave the Chiefs the hardest schedule in the league."

The Chiefs are set to open the 2024 campaign on Thursday, Sept. 5, against the Baltimore Ravens in a rematch of last season's AFC Championship Game. The season opener is one of five prime-time games for Kansas City, placing the defending champs under a major spotlight.

Also, the Chiefs are set to play on Black Friday against the Las Vegas Raiders and on Christmas Day against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the latter of which will be the first NFL game to be streamed live on Netflix.

When asked if the league received complaints from Kansas City, North said the team is aware that it comes with the territory of being the most successful franchise of the last few years.

"They knew. Look, they've been our bell cow for a while, they're kind of used to carrying our water for some of these unique opportunities here," North said. "You think about the Peacock playoff game last year. If you want to make Peacock a destination for an NFL playoff game, well, put a Chiefs game there. If Amazon wants to continue building Black Friday into an event... put a Chiefs game there. You want to make Christmas on Netflix a thing? Put a Chiefs game there."

North added that the league doesn't want to make this the norm for the Chiefs, but Patrick Mahomes and company are accustomed to this type of situation.

"You can't go to that well over and over again, there's only so many Chiefs games and obviously a lot of other really good teams and good stars and storylines in this league," North said. "But the Chiefs definitely were not surprised by their national television [schedule] and some of the windows we decided to use."