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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - It's Mike North, who's been there forever.
00:07 I've heard him and Howard Katz,
00:08 I've heard them speak about it.
00:10 Howard's been a TV executive for decades
00:13 and he's gotten involved in the scheduling process
00:15 for the last 20 years or so.
00:17 And they start after the season is over, they tweak,
00:21 they've got the scheduling model from Amazon Web Services,
00:24 which they use and they tweak it, they get,
00:27 now, one of the things they have to do is,
00:29 and it's communication with the clubs, Mike,
00:30 is super important.
00:32 They wanna know what the conflicts are.
00:34 They gotta make sure the stadiums are available.
00:36 Also, another thing,
00:37 and this happens depending on the market,
00:39 even if, most stadiums are not shared
00:42 with a baseball team or anyone else,
00:43 but let's say in the area you've got,
00:47 let's say the football stadiums in the area
00:49 where the hockey and basketball and baseball teams play,
00:52 all the pro teams. - Kansas City.
00:54 - You don't-- - Yeah, like Kansas City
00:55 and Baltimore. - Right, Kansas City,
00:57 Philly, other markets.
00:58 You don't wanna schedule an NFL game
01:00 when all three teams are playing.
01:02 Oh, and by the way, a major concert.
01:04 This has happened.
01:05 It doesn't happen a lot,
01:07 but the clubs wanna give this information
01:11 so they get the schedule right.
01:13 And also, this is a big thing.
01:15 Remember talking to Joe Bannon,
01:16 the former Eagles and Browns president about this.
01:18 Travel's a big thing.
01:21 The league wants competitive fairness.
01:24 I remember one year, the Eagles, for some reason,
01:26 let's say they played a Sunday night game.
01:29 They wound up traveling on a Wednesday to Seattle.
01:31 You can't ask a team on a short week
01:34 who just plays Sunday night to travel.
01:37 That's, by the way, that's like a six-hour flight
01:39 from Philly to Seattle, and it didn't work out well.
01:42 And I know the league heard about that.
01:44 And the league does a great job of making sure
01:46 there's not a competitive advantage,
01:48 but it's well-rested versus teams on less rest.
01:51 You don't want anyone to get that competitive advantage.
01:55 And Mike, divisional rivalries are big.
01:58 Obviously, Dallas and Washington, the Eagles and Dallas,
02:02 your bills and wealth, knowing it would happen to be good,
02:06 you knew that would have been a huge primetime game.
02:08 But in travel requirements, you wanna be careful
02:11 how much you're having people travel
02:12 and what time of the year.
02:13 And again, stadium availability.
02:15 So all those factors, Mike, are taken into
02:17 when they make the schedule out.
02:19 (upbeat music)
02:22 (bells chiming)