Why the NFL Schedule Doesn’t Typically Include Friday Games

During a normal NFL season, football fans are typically treated to three days of action in a given week, with games on Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays. Things get even better late in the season, as the league adds a few Saturday games, including a few during the postseason.

In 2023, the league tacked on yet another day, even if only for one week, by adding a Black Friday contest to the slate. And in 2024, two Friday games appear on the schedule, the first being in Week 1 featuring the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles , which is also the first-ever NFL game to be played in Brazil.

Then there’s the second annual Black Friday affair, which will see the Las Vegas Raiders take on the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs .

In the early years of the NFL, Friday games actually weren’t all that uncommon. But due to a law passed in the 1960s, the league has mostly avoided scheduling games on those days. In fact, since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, only a few handfuls of Friday games have been played.

Let’s take a brief look at the history of NFL Fridays.

Why the NFL Usually Doesn’t Play on Fridays

Friday NFL games were somewhat common until the 1960s

As mentioned, Friday NFL games were once a common occurrence in the league’s early years. But that all changed with the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961.

While there’s a lot of language in the law that affects other aspects of sports, the NFL was affected most, as it essentially locked the league out from holding games on Friday or Saturday in order to protect attendance at high school and college football games.

This is why the Saturday NFL games don’t start until mid-to-late December. By this time, high school seasons have concluded, as have the college football regular season and conference championships. This way, football fans who enjoy all levels of the game don’t have to choose what they want to watch.

Now, even with the league holding two Friday games in 2024, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll get more in future seasons. The Black Friday game makes some sense, as many don’t have to work that day. But beyond that, it might actually just be too much.

How Many NFL Games Have Been Played on a Friday?

Including 2024, just 14 games have been played on Friday since the NFL-AFL merger

Prior to the addition of the Black Friday game in 2023, just 11 games were played on a Friday since the NFL and AFL merged in 1970.

The first took place during Week 1 of that 1970 season, with the Los Angeles Rams hosting the then-St. Louis Cardinals . The next didn’t take place for another 13 years, at which point the NFL added one Friday game to the schedule each year from 1983 to 1986.

After ’86, before the Black Friday game became a thing, every Friday game but one took place on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or New Year’s Eve.

The lone exception was a 2005 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins . Initially scheduled for a Sunday in South Beach, the game was rescheduled to Friday night due to Hurricane Wilma, a Category 4 storm that was projected to hit Florida on Sunday. Of course, that’s no longer the lone exception due to the Packers-Eagles matchup in Brazil.

Here’s a quick look at every NFL Friday game since the 1970 merger.

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.