The NFL, not the TV networks, picks which games go in prime time. A small team in the league's broadcasting department builds the whole schedule, and the networks get a say but no veto. In 2026 that process put the Rams in prime time seven times and the Chiefs six times. It also left five teams with zero prime-time games: the New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins, Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders. That is the first time five teams were shut out since 2011.
Here is how the NFL picks its prime-time games, step by step: who makes the call, what each network gets, how flex scheduling works in 2026, and the rules that limit all of it. For the full count by team, see how many prime-time games each NFL team has in 2026.
Who Makes the NFL Schedule?
The schedule is built inside the league office. Mike North, the NFL's vice president of broadcast planning, is the face of it now. Hans Schroeder (executive vice president, media distribution) and Onnie Bose (vice president, broadcast operations) are also part of the group. Howard Katz ran the process for about 20 years before retiring at the end of May 2025.
The networks lobby hard, and so do the teams. But the league makes the final call, and Commissioner Roger Goodell signs off on the finished schedule.
How the NFL Schedule Is Made, Step by Step
- The opponents are already set. A formula decides who plays whom before any dates are picked. Each team plays 6 division games, 4 against one division in its own conference, 4 against one division in the other conference, 2 based on last year's division finish, and 1 more cross-conference game based on last year's standings. The league knows every matchup and every home team. It does not yet know the week or the time slot.
- Teams report stadium conflicts. Starting in January, clubs tell the league about concerts and other events that could clash with games. In 2025 the league planned around Billy Joel, Paul McCartney and Green Day dates.
- Requests come in. Teams lobby at the March league meeting for things like more prime-time games. Historically, the networks have also sent wish lists. In past seasons, NBC, ESPN and NFL Network listed the games they wanted at night, while CBS and FOX listed the Sunday afternoon games they did not want to lose.
- The "seed" games go in first. About 80 marquee games are placed into prime-time, doubleheader and holiday windows before anything else.
- Computers build the rest. Thousands of cloud computers build complete schedules around those seeds, overnight, again and again. The best version stays on top until a better one beats it. In 2023, AWS said the job used 4,000 cloud instances and more than 20,000 rules.
- People review it and trade games between networks. The league balances the partners so each one gets big games. Under the current deals, North says every game is essentially a free agent that could land on any network. In 2025, Bills vs. Chiefs was considered for Sunday night, Monday night and FOX before it went to CBS.
- The Commissioner approves one. In 2025, about a dozen finalist schedules went to Goodell in the final week. In 2026 the schedule was finished on a Tuesday. Teams got it Wednesday morning and the networks got it Thursday morning.
- The schedule is released in May. The 2026 schedule came out Thursday, May 14, at 8 p.m. Eastern.
- Flex scheduling kicks in during the season. NBC, ESPN and Amazon can ask for a better game, but the NFL decides after consulting with the networks.
- Week 18 is set last. The whole final weekend, including the Saturday games and the Sunday night finale, is announced only after Week 17 ends.
Every NFL TV Partner and What It Gets
Each network has its own windows and its own flex rights. Here is the short version for 2026.
| Network | Main Window | Flex Rights in 2026 | 2026 Extras |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBC / Peacock | Sunday Night Football | Up to 2x in Weeks 5-10, any week in Weeks 11-17, picks Week 18 finale | Wednesday opener, Thanksgiving night, Peacock game, Jan. 2 Saturday doubleheader |
| ESPN / ABC | Monday Night Football | Any week in Weeks 12-17 | Two Week 18 Saturday games |
| Amazon Prime Video | Thursday Night Football | Up to 2x in Weeks 13-17 | Black Friday, Christmas Eve |
| Netflix | Special games | None | Melbourne, Thanksgiving Eve, two Christmas Day games, a Week 18 Saturday game |
| CBS | Sunday afternoons (AFC package) | Games can be cross-flexed with FOX | Thanksgiving afternoon (Bears at Lions) |
| FOX | Sunday afternoons (NFC package) | Games can be cross-flexed with CBS | Thanksgiving afternoon, Christmas night, Nov. 15 tripleheader |
NBC and Peacock: Sunday Night Football
NBC airs the Sunday night game every week, and it has the strongest flex rights of any network. In 2026 it also has:
- The Kickoff Game on Wednesday, Sept. 9: Patriots at Seahawks, a Super Bowl LX rematch.
- Thanksgiving night: Chiefs at Bills.
- A Peacock-exclusive game, the fourth straight season with one.
- The Week 18 Sunday night finale, chosen for its playoff stakes.
- A new Saturday, Jan. 2 doubleheader: one game at 4:30 p.m. Eastern on NBC and Peacock, then a Peacock-exclusive game at 8 p.m. Eastern. Those games came from inventory ESPN gave back as part of its NFL Network deal.
Does NBC get first pick? No published rule says so. In practice, NBC has the most flex freedom and gets the season's biggest tent-pole games: the opener, Thanksgiving night and the Week 18 finale.
ESPN and ABC: Monday Night Football
ESPN has Monday nights, with some games on ABC and some as doubleheaders. Super Bowls also come to ABC in the rotation. ESPN took over NFL Network in an equity deal with the league. As part of that deal, the NFL took back four games and resold three to Netflix and one to NBC. ESPN also carries two Week 18 Saturday games, at 4:30 and 8 p.m. Eastern.
Monday night flexing is fairly new. It arrived with the deals that started in 2023, which added more flex scheduling for both Sunday and Monday nights.
Amazon Prime Video: Thursday Night Football and Black Friday
Prime Video has had Thursday Night Football exclusively since 2023. It also has the Black Friday game for the fourth year: Broncos at Steelers, 3 p.m. Eastern. In 2026 it adds Christmas Eve, Thursday, Dec. 24: Texans at Eagles, 8:15 p.m. Eastern.
Thursday flexing is the most limited. Owners first approved it in 2023 by a 24-8 vote, with 28 days' notice. The notice was cut to 21 days in 2025.
Netflix
Netflix has five games a year through 2029, up from two in 2025. The 2026 games are:
- Week 1: Rams vs. 49ers in Melbourne, Thursday, Sept. 10, the first NFL game in Australia.
- Thanksgiving Eve: Packers at Rams, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 8 p.m. Eastern.
- Christmas Day: Packers at Bears (1 p.m. Eastern) and Bills at Broncos (4:30 p.m. Eastern).
- Week 18: a Saturday game at 1 p.m. Eastern.
There is no YouTube game in 2026. YouTube streamed Chiefs vs. Chargers in São Paulo for free in 2025, but reports say it balked at splitting a package with Netflix this year. That game went to FOX.
CBS and FOX: Sunday Afternoons and Cross-Flex
CBS carries the AFC package and FOX carries the NFC package, covering the 1 p.m. and late-afternoon Sunday games plus the rotating national doubleheader. Under older deals, the basic rule was that CBS got AFC road games and FOX got NFC road games, adjusted for whatever went to prime time.
Since 2014, the league can cross-flex games between the two. That means CBS can air an NFC game and FOX can air an AFC game. In Week 14 of 2025, for example, Bengals at Bills (an all-AFC game) aired on FOX.
CBS and FOX can reportedly "protect" some of their afternoon games from being flexed into prime time. The exact number of protections and the deadlines under the current deals have never been officially published.
In 2026, CBS has Bears at Lions and FOX has Eagles at Cowboys on Thanksgiving afternoon. FOX also has Christmas night (Rams at Seahawks, 8:15 p.m. Eastern) and a Nov. 15 tripleheader that starts with a morning Lions game in Munich.
The 2026 NFL Flex Scheduling Rules
Flex scheduling lets the league move a better Sunday afternoon game into a night window during set weeks. Only Sunday afternoon (or TBD) games can be flexed in, and the bumped night game moves to Sunday afternoon. Afternoon games can also shift between 1 p.m. and the late window.
- Sunday Night Football: up to twice in Weeks 5-10, and any week from 11 to 17. In Weeks 5-13 the decision comes at least 12 days ahead. In Weeks 14-17 it is generally at least 6 days ahead. ProFootballTalk reports the league saves early flexes (before Week 11) for big changes, like a quarterback injury.
- Monday Night Football: any week from 12 to 17, with at least 12 days' notice.
- Thursday Night Football: at most twice, in Weeks 13-17, generally with at least 21 days' notice. That window is wider than 2025, when it was Weeks 14-16.
- Week 18: the whole slate is set after Week 17. Saturday has Netflix at 1 p.m. and ESPN/ABC at 4:30 and 8 p.m. Eastern. Everyone else plays Sunday, ending with NBC's finale at 8:20 p.m. Eastern.
Flex changes also move uniform plans around, so we track every one on our NFL uniform schedule for 2026.
The Rules and Limits Behind the Schedule
The league says it weighs competitive fairness, travel, and player health and safety. Here are the rules we can confirm:
- Short weeks: a team can have at most two short-week games. Starting in 2026, Friday games no longer count as short weeks, after an owners' vote on March 31, 2026.
- Thursday after Sunday: since 2023, a team can play on Thursday after a Sunday game twice a season. Before that, the limit was once.
- No Friday nights in the fall: the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 blocks Friday night NFL games from the second Friday of September on. That is why Week 1 Friday games abroad are the exception.
- International games: every team plays abroad at least once every eight years. 2026 has a record nine international games in seven countries, with Melbourne, Rio and Paris hosting for the first time.
- Stadium conflicts: clubs report concerts and other events starting in January.
Is there a limit on how many prime-time games one team can get? The NFL has not published a current cap. Older reports described limits from before the 2023 deals, but nothing official exists for today's contracts.
What Is New in 2026
The 2026 schedule has more special windows than ever:
- A Wednesday opener, Patriots at Seahawks on NBC, the first Wednesday opener since 2012. Netflix followed with Rams vs. 49ers in Melbourne on Thursday. Week 1 also had Cowboys at Giants on Sunday night and Broncos at Chiefs on Monday night.
- The first Thanksgiving Eve game ever, Packers at Rams on Netflix. North said the league chose it after talks with its partners, and that Thanksgiving week is tough to fill while staying strong on Sunday and Monday.
- Thanksgiving Day: Bears at Lions (CBS), Eagles at Cowboys (FOX) and Chiefs at Bills (NBC).
- Black Friday: Broncos at Steelers on Prime Video.
- Christmas Eve: Texans at Eagles on Prime Video.
- A Christmas tripleheader: two Netflix games, then Rams at Seahawks on FOX.
- Saturday games late in the year, including NBC's Jan. 2 doubleheader and the Week 18 Saturday games on Netflix and ESPN/ABC.
Why Five Teams Got Zero Prime-Time Games
The Jets, Titans, Dolphins, Cardinals and Raiders have no prime-time games on the 2026 schedule. It is the first time five teams were shut out since 2011.
The reason is simple. Night windows go to the games the league and its partners expect to draw the biggest audiences, and these five did not make the cut. Mike North put it this way to NFL.com: "we don't draft our way into prime time. We play our way into prime time."
At the top, the Rams have seven prime-time games and the Chiefs have six, per NFL.com. You can see every team's count in our 2026 NFL prime-time games by team breakdown.
Our Jets uniform schedule for 2026 has what they are wearing each week. The way back in is flex scheduling: if any of the five teams plays its way into a playoff race, one of its Sunday afternoon games could still move to a night window late in the season.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who decides which NFL games are on Sunday Night Football?
The NFL does. The league's broadcast planning team, led by Mike North, builds the schedule. NBC can lobby before the season and ask for a flex during it, but the league makes the call.
Do TV networks pick their own NFL games?
Not directly. Historically, networks have sent wish lists, and CBS and FOX have listed the afternoon games they want to keep. The league then splits the games among its partners.
How is the NFL schedule made?
Opponents are set by formula. About 80 marquee "seed" games are placed first. Thousands of cloud computers build full schedules around them, people review the best ones, and the Commissioner approves the final version.
When does the NFL release its schedule?
In mid-May. The 2026 schedule came out Thursday, May 14, 2026.
What is NFL flex scheduling?
It lets the league move a better Sunday afternoon game into a prime-time window during set weeks. The original night game moves to Sunday afternoon.
When can Sunday Night Football flex games in 2026?
Up to twice in Weeks 5-10, and in any week from 11 to 17. The notice is at least 12 days through Week 13 and generally at least 6 days in Weeks 14-17.
Can Monday Night Football flex games?
Yes. Monday Night Football can flex in any week from 12 to 17, with at least 12 days' notice.
Can Thursday Night Football flex games?
Yes, at most twice a season, in Weeks 13-17, generally with at least 21 days' notice.
How is the Week 18 Sunday night game picked?
The whole Week 18 slate is set after Week 17 ends. The Sunday night spot goes to the game with the biggest playoff stakes.
Does NBC get first pick of NFL games?
No published rule says NBC picks first. NBC does have the most flex freedom, and it gets the biggest tent-pole games: the Kickoff Game, Thanksgiving night and the Week 18 finale.
Why do some NFL teams get no prime-time games?
Night slots go to the games the league expects to draw the most viewers. In 2026, the Jets, Titans, Dolphins, Cardinals and Raiders got none, the first time five teams were shut out since 2011.
Why don't the Jets have any prime-time games in 2026?
The Jets were one of five teams left out of every night window when the schedule came out in May. Flex scheduling could still move one of their late-season games to a night slot if they play their way into the race.
Which NFL team has the most prime-time games in 2026?
The Los Angeles Rams, with seven, per NFL.com. The Chiefs have six.
Is there a limit on prime-time games per NFL team?
The NFL has not published a current cap. Limits described in older reports came from before the 2023 TV deals.
How many short weeks can an NFL team have?
At most two short-week games. Starting in 2026, Friday games do not count toward that limit.
Why are there no NFL games on Friday nights?
The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 blocks Friday night NFL games from the second Friday of September on. Week 1 Friday games played abroad are the exception.
Which NFL games are on Netflix in 2026?
Five: Rams vs. 49ers in Melbourne in Week 1, Packers at Rams on Thanksgiving Eve, Packers at Bears and Bills at Broncos on Christmas Day, and a Week 18 Saturday game.
Is there an NFL game on YouTube in 2026?
No. YouTube streamed the 2025 São Paulo game, but there is no YouTube game in 2026. That game went to FOX.
What is the NFL Black Friday game in 2026?
Broncos at Steelers, 3 p.m. Eastern on Prime Video. It is the fourth year of the Black Friday game.
What is cross-flexing in the NFL?
Since 2014, the league can move Sunday afternoon games between CBS and FOX. That lets an AFC game air on FOX and an NFC game air on CBS.
The Bottom Line
The NFL builds its schedule in-house, and the networks get a say but no veto. In 2026 that system left the Jets, Titans, Dolphins, Cardinals and Raiders without a single prime-time game. Flex scheduling is the only way that changes.
More NFL Coverage
- NFL prime-time games by team in 2026
- NFL uniform schedule 2026: what every team is wearing this week
- New York Jets uniform schedule 2026
Schedule-making process via NFL Football Operations, the Associated Press, AWS, The Athletic, Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports. Flex rules via NFL.com's 2026 flexible scheduling procedures and ProFootballTalk. 2026 schedule, network and holiday details via NFL.com, FOX Sports, NBC Sports, Awful Announcing, Front Office Sports, Sports Media Watch and the Associated Press.
