A fine example of the NFL's status as a major TV power player can be found via the league's new *Thursday Night Football* deal with CBS.
Thursday is the most important night of the week in television advertising, and CBS beat out several competitors for the right to hand over their entire primetime schedule to football. You know you have a popular brand when you can bump Big Bang Theory from its regularly scheduled night.
From a business standpoint, Thursday Night Football is a no-brainer. But there remains some apprehension from the players' standpoint on the physical toll of the game. Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III voiced that concern in a recent TNF feature in The Hollywood Reporter.
"There are a lot of players out there who feel like there's not enough days in the week for us to be playing on Thursdays," Griffin said. "It's something that the NFL is going to have to address to keep players safe while also trying to maximize revenue."
Griffin added there was also a positive way to look at short weeks.
"At the same time, when we get those games on Sunday and Thursday, then we're off for an extended period of time," he said. "Sometimes we look at it as an extra bye week."
Around The League's Marc Sessler will be on hand Thursday when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Patriots owner Robert Kraft and CBS CEO Leslie Moonves take part in a panel on Thursday Night Football. This topic is sure to come up.
The latest "Around The League Podcast" invites Bucky Brooks in-studio for a team-by-team AFC training camp preview.
