NFL Jewel Games: Chiefs Open; Jets, Rodgers Get 'SNF,' 'MNF'; Pats Honor Brady

By Barry Janoff

UPDATED May 11, 2023: The NFL has a game plan for the 2023 season.

Among the highlights:

The Super Bowl LVII champion Kansas City Chiefs will open the season hosting the Detroit Lions in Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 7 on NBC in the NFL’s Kickoff Game. (8 PM ET).

The first Monday Night Football Game of the season will see the Buffalo Bills visit the New York Jets and new quarterback Aaron Rodgers Sept. 11 on ESPN (8 PM ET).

The Jets will also be on NBC’s Sunday Night Football for the first time since 2011 on Oct. 1 in MetLife Stadium when they host the Chiefs. The game will also see a remembrance of the events of 9/11 2001.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said that the team plans to honor former quarterback Tom Brady at the 2023 home opener, Sept. 10 hosting the Philadelphia Eagles (CBS 4:30 PM ET).

“The NFL is over a century old, and during 20 of those years the greatest player in the history of the game played right here in Foxboro,” Kraft said on NFL Network today.

"I invited him back to come here to be with us at the opening game and let the fans in New England thank him for the great service he gave us over 20 years.

“t will be the beginning of many celebrations to honor Tom Brady and “say Thank-you for what he did for us those 20 years playing for the New England Patriots.".

Nickelodeon and CBS Sports said today they are teaming up with the NFL again for a 2023 game.

The Nickelodeon NFL Nickmas Game will be a special slime-filled Christmas Day event between the Las Vegas Raiders and host Chiefs, the first of three NFL Xmas games, supporting a third season of Nick’s weekly NFL series, NFL Slimetime.

The traditional game will air on CBS (1 PM ET), Paramount+ and NFL+, with the special slime-filled presentation exclusively on Nickelodeon.

Thanksgiving Day Nov. 23:
• Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions Fox 12:30 PM ET
• Washington Commanders at Dallas Cowboys CBS 4:30 PM ET
• San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks NBC 8 PM ET

Xmas Monday, Dec. 25:
• Las Vegas Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs CBS, Nickelodeon (Slime Game) 1 PM ET
• New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles Fox 4:30 PM ET
• Baltimore Ravens at San Francisco 49ers ABC 8 PM ET

Two Monday Night Football games Sept. 18, Sept. 25,, Dec. 11: ESPN and ABC; ESPN+.

May 10, 2023: One day ahead of the official release of its full 2023 schedule, the NFL has unveiled a slate of games to be played on Xmas, New Year’s Eve and Black Friday (Nov. 24); and the opponents, dates and locations for the five International Games to be played in 2023 across London and Frankfurt, Germany.

Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins will visit Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets in the first Black Friday (Nov. 24) game in NFL history, in MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ, to air on Prime Video (3 PM ET).

The Friday game on-air team will be led by Prime Viideo’s Thursday Night Football's Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit.
 
On Christmas Day, which this year falls on a Monday, the NFL will stage a triple-header, with the middle game featuring the defending Conference champion Philadelphia Eagles hosting the New York Giants in Lincoln Financial Field, to air on Fox (4:30 PM ET).

The NFL has been playing regular-season games on Christmas since 1989, including six Xmas games over the past three years: 2020 (1), 2021 (2) and 2022 (3).

This will be the third Christmas Monday during that time (2006, 2017), when the NFL scheduled two games for each.

On Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve, the defending Super bowl LVII champion Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes will host Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals in Arrowhead Stadium on CBS (4:30 PM ET).
    
The London Games are being presented by IG online trading and investments firm. The German Games are being presented by DKB (Das Kann Bank).

There will be no international game in Mexico in 2023 due to renovations taking place in Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will begin the 2023 NFL International Games on Oct. 1 when they play the Atlanta Falcons in Wembley Stadium (ESPN+, 9:30 AM ET), Jacksonville’s tenth regular season “home game” in London. 

On Oct. 8, London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will see the Buffalo Bills face the Jaguars (NFL Network, 9:30 AM), with Jacksonville playing its second regular-season game in the same season — and back-to-back — outside of the U.S., a first for the NFL.

On Oct. 15, the Tennessee Titans will play the Baltimore Ravens, also in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (NFL Network, 9:30 AM ET).
 
As part of its commitment to play regular season games in Germany for the next four years (beginning in 2022) the NFL will play two games in 2023 in Frankfurt, having played the inaugural Germany game in Munich on Nov. 13, 2022, when Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Seattle Seahawks.
 
On Nov. 5, the Chiefs will play the Dolphins in Frankfurt Stadium, home of Eintracht Frankfurt (NFL Network, 9:30 AM ET).

On Nov.. 12, the New England Patriots face the Indianapolis Colts, also in Frankfurt Stadium (NFL Network, 9:30 AM ET), to complete the 2023 NFL International Games.

The NFL said its inaugural game in Germany had a $77M economic impact for Munich, with more than $35M in direct spending in Munich. It was NFL Network's most-watched international game on record in the U.S. with more than 5.8 million viewers.

The league also said that Fanatics, the NFL's exclusive event retail operator for Europe, confirmed that “game-day merchandise sales at the Allianz Arena were the highest-ever recorded for an NFL game outside of the U.S.” Sales figures were not shared.

The NFL said its 2022 International Games “saw record-breaking attendances and viewership as ticket demand and fandom continue to grow for the league across the world.”

"Growing the league and our sport internationally is a major strategic priority for the NFL, and we are excited to again be playing five games outside of the United States in 2023," Peter O'Reilly, NFL evp-club business, major events and international, said via the league.

“We know how important live regular season games are to our passionate global fans and we thank our clubs for their strong, long-term commitment to this important initiative.

"Interest in our game globally is at an all-time high, and we look forward to returning to the UK and Germany in 2023 with some of the most iconic clubs and stars in the NFL."

2023 NFL International Games (all games 9:30 AM ET)

• Oct. 1 (Week 4): Atlanta Falcons vs. Jacksonville Jaguars Wembley Stadium ESPN+

• Oct: 8 (Week 5): Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Buffalo Bills Tottenham Hotspur Stadium NFL Network

• Oct. 15 (Week 6): Baltimore Ravens vs. Tennessee Titans Tottenham Hotspur Stadium NFL Network

• Nov. 5 (Week 9): Miami Dolphins vs. Kansas City Chiefs Frankfurt Stadium NFL Network

• Nov. 12 (Week 10):å Indianapolis Colts vs. New England Patriots Frankfurt Stadium NFL Network


Germany Got Game: NFL Game Has $77M Economic Impact

NFL Tickets Bills, Titans, Jaguars, Chiefs, Patriots To Host 2023 International Games

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