NFL Owners Reportedly Approve Rule Change to Shorten Notice to Flex Games for TNF

NFL teams reportedly may have less advance notice when their games are going to be flexed from Sunday to Thursday following Monday's vote at the league meetings.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported league owners passed a resolution that will give the league the ability to flex games to Thursday Night Football with just 21 days' notice. This comes after just a single game was flexed over the course of the 2023 and 2024 campaigns through a temporary resolution that was put in place that gave the league the ability to do so with 28 days' notice.

Pelissero noted the NFL completed its first-ever flex into Thursday Night Football during the 2024 season for a game between the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers.

The Week 16 contest between the AFC West rivals went from one that would have been seen by just 10 to 15 percent of the country to a national broadcast. Los Angeles won the game 34-27, although both teams ended up making the playoffs.

Something like that won't be happening every week with this new rule change, as Pelissero explained any single team cannot play more than two short-week games. What's more, there will not be more than two Thursday Night Football flexes throughout a single season.

Given those restrictions, look for the NFL to be selective about using its flex powers.

It will surely look for a late-season game between two playoff contenders just like the one in 2024 between the Broncos and Chargers. Ideally, flexing such a game into the Thursday slot will also remove a game between non-contenders that ends up being less interesting than initially expected when it was scheduled.

There is something to be said about interrupting plans for fans by flexing games into Thursday with just three weeks' notice, especially for visiting supporters who are traveling to see their teams.

It isn't difficult to envision a scenario where fans have made travel arrangements and hotel reservations just for a game to be moved from the weekend to a weeknight, which could cause issues.

Yet the restrictions mean it won't happen more than twice throughout a season, and there is at least some time to make necessary adjustments with the three weeks' notice in place. This also gives the league the ability to create more enticing matchups for the millions of fans who watch on television and create more excitement from that angle.