A cold war rose between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Los Angeles Chargers as the Raiders owner Mark Davis fired a playful jab at their AFC West rivals while discussing the proposed Thursday Night Football flex scheduling.
Earlier only games on Sundays were scheduled to be flexed throughout the day, however, the NFL voted to allow flex scheduling for the TNF schedule in 2023 by passing a 24-8 proposal despite major teams like Giants, Jets, Packers, Bears, Raiders, Lions, Bengals and Steelers voting against it.
Why is the Raiders owner Mark Davis throwing dig at the Chargers?
In an interview with USA TODAY Sports during a break Monday at the NFL owner’s meetings, the Raiders owner cited his discontent with the proposal for late-season Thursday night games on Amazon saying he would “absolutely not” support the proposal.
Davis remained on the side of the New York Giants co-owner John Mara to oppose the proposed scheduling tweak in primetime Thursday games and didn’t halt back from sharing how he would address the change stating, “Just make the schedule and play it.”
While Mera earlier called the change “abusive” to fans, the Raiders’ 68-year-old owner is concerned more about accommodating his fans traveling from out of the city and also seized the opportunity to take a playful swipe at the Chargers, boasting having one of the most loyal fan bases in the NFL.
“If you have a Raiders-Chargers game in Las Vegas scheduled for a Thursday and all of the fans driving from Los Angeles – the Raiders fans and all three Chargers fans – buy their tickets and book their hotels, how in the hell do you schedule it and now say, ‘Sorry, it’s now on Sunday?’ How in the hell do you do that?”
Why is the league introducing the TNF flex in 2023?
Amazon pays the NFL $1 billion annually for the Thursday night package, however, the late-season games on Prime couldn’t draw large audiences as they feature unattractive games.
In an effort to keep their new partner satisfied and amass more revenue for them and Amazon, the league approved flex scheduling to adjust the matchups for Thursday night games during the latter part of the season.
The Chargers and the Raiders have a long history of intense matchups and a fanbase rivalry and they are expected to face off against each other on Thursday, Dec. 14 on Prime Video as long as the match doesn’t get flexed to another date.
Are you excited to witness the heated match between the two AFC rivals? Let us know in the comments section!
