FOX NFL Sunday could be ‘crippled’ by the league’s schedule plans, a former star has claimed.
Michael Strahan and Terry Bradshaw’s show begins at 12 pm ET every Sunday during NFL season.
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The pregame show is one of the longest-running and most watched by football fans.
The NFL is keen to add more international games to the slate.
Team owners have approved up to eight fixtures outside of the United States.
And commissioner Roger Goodell wants that to increase to 16 games.
This year the league will visit Dublin, Ireland, and Madrid, Spain, for the first time ever.
Those two games will add to the European schedule of three games in London, England, and one in Germany, which this year moves to Berlin.
European games have tended to kickoff in the afternoon local time, meaning a 9.30 am ET start.
A breakfast TV slot on Sunday mornings before the 1 pm ET slate begins could prove lucrative in terms of TV rights.
But a former Fox employee fears that pregame shows will be hit hard.
Peter Schrager recently joined ESPN having worked for Fox and NFL Network.
He appeared on Fox NFL Kickoff at 11 am ET on Sundays leading into the main Strahan and Bradshaw show.
“We’d have crazy ratings on our little Kickoff show that was before the big one, that was from 11-12 Eastern,” Schrager told Pardon My Take.
“But when they would have these international games, nobody watched.
“You’d rather watch any game than a pregame show talking about the other games.
“So you’d go over to ESPN or NFL Network or wherever it was, and those games started at 9:30 Eastern.
“It’s usually in the fourth quarter when the pregame show’s going on.”
Schrager added, “If you have 16 international games, my question is does that single-handedly cripple the idea of a Sunday pregame show?
“I feel like most fans, even if it’s Jaguars-Titans or it’s Saints-Bucs, you watch the game over hearing what the guys have to say about the games coming up.”
In addition to the European fixtures, the NFL will also return to Brazil in 2025.
But that game will take place on Friday night in Week 1 in a prime time spot.