NFL owners reportedly approved a vote to allow flex scheduling for Thursday Night Football, which will start during the 2023 season. The owners approved the vote 24-8 according to Adam Schefter.
The league will be allowed to flex up to two games to Thursday night and it can only be done in weeks 13-17. The teams must be notified 28 days in advance and no team can play more than one Thursday night game on the road.
With the new rule, the NFL can now flex games on Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights. 2023 will be the first season where Thursday and Monday night flexing will be allowed.
Thursday Night Football kicks off on opening night of the 2023 NFL season when the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs will host the Detroit Lions on Sept. 7. The Lions are the only team to be exempt from Thursday night flexing as they'll also travel to Green Bay to play the Packers in the first game of Week 4.
The final five weeks of Thursday Night Football in 2023 feature four matchups against teams that missed the playoffs last season. The lone exception is a Week 13 game between the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys. We could see the NFL use its flexing abilities for Thursday Night Football the max two times in season one as the playoff picture shakes out.
The move is a win for the NFL in terms of virtually ensuring primetime matchups every night during the final weeks of the season. The logistics of moving a game three or four days ahead of its originally scheduled date could cause some nightmares for teams. Apparently three-quarters of the league's owners don't see that as a problem.
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