Why is there no Monday Night Football game this week?

The penultimate week of the NFL's regular season has no games schedules on Monday night.

Why is there no Monday Night Football game this week?

NFL (via Marca)

It is the penultimate week of the NFL’s 2023 regular season and yet, there is an unusual schedule ahead as this week, there will be no games played on Monday Night Football. Is this just by chance or has it been done deliberately? Well, it is the latter. To answer this question in two words, College Football.

The change in scheduling is owing to the conclusion of the College football season, which began on August 26 and ended on December 9. Why schedule games for Monday when there are slots available on Saturdays? Not to mention, the multiple Bowl games scheduled to be played by college football teams in the 3 weeks between the 16th of December to the 8th of January.

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The first Saturday games were scheduled in Week 15, with three key games. The number fell to two games being scheduled on Saturday in Week 16, and this week, there is just one matchup, the Dallas Cowboys game against the Detroit Lions. Fans can expect to see a Saturday Night Football game scheduled for next week as well.

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This Monday is a big one for the College Football Playoffs

Monday is a big day for college football. The highly anticipated playoffs begin with Michigan taking on Alabama in the Rose Bowl and Texas playing against Washington in the Sugar Bowl. Then a week later, it will be the biggest night in the lives of the athletes of the teams that win the semifinals as on January 8th, there is the National Championship game.

Michigan V. Alabama
The Michigan Wolverines take on Alabama in the College Football Playoffs beginning Monday. (via mlive/AP)

The reason for this unusual scheduling on part of the league is owing to college football, there is no other reason. If a college football game is scheduled on the same day as an NFL game, then it takes a significant chunk of viewership away from the former. The league is allowing CFP to co-exist and has scheduled games in such a manner that both college and professional football can thrive.

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