1
00:00:06,026 --> 00:00:09,506
Speaker 1: NFL Explained is a production of the NFL in partnership

2
00:00:09,706 --> 00:00:18,146
Speaker 1: with I Heart Radio. Well, one of the biggest days

3
00:00:18,186 --> 00:00:20,666
Speaker 1: of the NFL offseason. It is knocking on the door.

4
00:00:20,746 --> 00:00:23,226
Speaker 1: It is upon us, and no, it's actually not the

5
00:00:23,306 --> 00:00:29,506
Speaker 1: NFL Draft. It's the release of the official NFL schedule. Now,

6
00:00:29,626 --> 00:00:32,226
Speaker 1: NFL fans, you know, you can start planning your tail gates,

7
00:00:32,346 --> 00:00:34,226
Speaker 1: look ahead to see if there's a chance to get

8
00:00:34,266 --> 00:00:37,106
Speaker 1: to see Tom Brady one more or ten more times.

9
00:00:37,146 --> 00:00:39,266
Speaker 1: I am not convinced that this is the final run

10
00:00:39,386 --> 00:00:41,866
Speaker 1: for him. Maybe he's playing on Monday night. Or you

11
00:00:41,866 --> 00:00:45,026
Speaker 1: can possibly purchase those hotel rooms and airline tickets to

12
00:00:45,106 --> 00:00:48,506
Speaker 1: one of those international games that are being played this season. Yeah,

13
00:00:48,506 --> 00:00:50,426
Speaker 1: I'd love to go to one of those. I'm like yeah.

14
00:00:50,506 --> 00:00:53,026
Speaker 1: And today on NFL Explained, we are taking a look

15
00:00:53,066 --> 00:00:56,546
Speaker 1: at how the NFL schedule is created. Now, by looking

16
00:00:56,586 --> 00:00:58,786
Speaker 1: at the schedule, it might seem like it's the simplest

17
00:00:58,786 --> 00:01:01,786
Speaker 1: place in teams into home and away games. It's why

18
00:01:01,866 --> 00:01:05,306
Speaker 1: more complicated. In reality, it's like a giant Rubik's cube.

19
00:01:05,346 --> 00:01:08,266
Speaker 1: There are two hundred and seventy two games spread out

20
00:01:08,306 --> 00:01:11,546
Speaker 1: over eighteen weeks. Let that digest for just a moment,

21
00:01:11,546 --> 00:01:14,066
Speaker 1: two hundred and seventy two games, not just your team.

22
00:01:14,106 --> 00:01:16,866
Speaker 1: There's a lot of moving parts here, plus the international games,

23
00:01:16,906 --> 00:01:19,186
Speaker 1: scheduling conflicts for the stadiums because you know that there's

24
00:01:19,186 --> 00:01:21,106
Speaker 1: always a cool concert that you gotta check out in

25
00:01:21,146 --> 00:01:23,186
Speaker 1: your local city, and of course making sure that the

26
00:01:23,266 --> 00:01:26,386
Speaker 1: key matchups make it into primetime. So trying to understand

27
00:01:26,426 --> 00:01:28,986
Speaker 1: how the NFL schedule is created is like trying to

28
00:01:29,026 --> 00:01:31,746
Speaker 1: read a foreign language and almost impossible for me to

29
00:01:31,786 --> 00:01:34,826
Speaker 1: try to explain. Trust me, it is really complicated. So

30
00:01:34,866 --> 00:01:37,466
Speaker 1: this week on NFL Explain how the schedule is created,

31
00:01:37,506 --> 00:01:39,666
Speaker 1: we're listening to the experts who can do it way

32
00:01:39,666 --> 00:01:42,026
Speaker 1: more eloquently than I can, on how they actually put

33
00:01:42,066 --> 00:01:45,666
Speaker 1: together the full eighteen week NFL scheduled. And if you

34
00:01:45,666 --> 00:01:47,986
Speaker 1: actually like to see the video that accompanies the audio

35
00:01:48,026 --> 00:01:49,546
Speaker 1: clips that you're about to hear, all you have to

36
00:01:49,546 --> 00:01:52,226
Speaker 1: do just head over to the NFL Explained YouTube channel

37
00:01:52,306 --> 00:01:56,146
Speaker 1: and search for how the NFL schedule is created. Trust me,

38
00:01:56,346 --> 00:01:58,626
Speaker 1: it is awesome to see it visually, as well as

39
00:01:58,626 --> 00:02:00,906
Speaker 1: a bonus to fill in any questions that actually aren't

40
00:02:00,946 --> 00:02:02,826
Speaker 1: answered from the clips that were picking. I actually had

41
00:02:02,866 --> 00:02:05,066
Speaker 1: a chance to sit down with Mike North, and trust me,

42
00:02:05,106 --> 00:02:07,746
Speaker 1: the dude is awesome to give us all the three here.

43
00:02:07,786 --> 00:02:09,826
Speaker 1: It's on how they actually try to build the most

44
00:02:09,866 --> 00:02:12,186
Speaker 1: optimal schedule. Trust me, I know I keep saying it's

45
00:02:12,266 --> 00:02:14,786
Speaker 1: it's it's so much harder than you could possibly even fathom.

46
00:02:14,866 --> 00:02:18,186
Speaker 1: But the NFL schedule team is basically made up of

47
00:02:18,266 --> 00:02:21,146
Speaker 1: people that you want on your team, Howard Kats, Mike North,

48
00:02:21,386 --> 00:02:25,146
Speaker 1: Charlotte Carry, Annie Bows, Blake Jones, and Nick Cooney. And

49
00:02:25,186 --> 00:02:26,986
Speaker 1: they get right to work as soon as the clock

50
00:02:27,066 --> 00:02:29,506
Speaker 1: hit zero on the NFL regular season to come up

51
00:02:29,506 --> 00:02:32,466
Speaker 1: with the next season schedule to showcase the league's best

52
00:02:32,506 --> 00:02:37,186
Speaker 1: matchups and talent every single week. When the regular season

53
00:02:37,346 --> 00:02:40,906
Speaker 1: ended on January three, you know, Monday, January four, we

54
00:02:40,906 --> 00:02:43,466
Speaker 1: were right on the software loading in what we now

55
00:02:43,546 --> 00:02:47,586
Speaker 1: knew to be the two seventy two matchups one and

56
00:02:47,786 --> 00:02:52,266
Speaker 1: the matchups are set by a combination of rotation and

57
00:02:52,546 --> 00:02:57,306
Speaker 1: previous years standings. The NFL has thirty two teams, and

58
00:02:57,386 --> 00:03:00,386
Speaker 1: we are divided into two conferences of sixteen teams each,

59
00:03:00,706 --> 00:03:03,706
Speaker 1: and within each conference we've got four divisions of four

60
00:03:03,746 --> 00:03:07,106
Speaker 1: teams each. So now, of course, the seventeen games you're

61
00:03:07,106 --> 00:03:10,826
Speaker 1: gonna have every team plays their three division opponents each

62
00:03:10,866 --> 00:03:13,346
Speaker 1: home and away, so that's six games that every team

63
00:03:13,346 --> 00:03:15,866
Speaker 1: in that division will play another division in their own

64
00:03:15,906 --> 00:03:18,826
Speaker 1: conference to home tow away, so that's four more games.

65
00:03:18,826 --> 00:03:21,626
Speaker 1: That's ten total. And then they'll play a division in

66
00:03:21,666 --> 00:03:25,266
Speaker 1: the other conference in its entirety to home tow away,

67
00:03:25,306 --> 00:03:28,946
Speaker 1: so that's fourteen total. Now there's two more in your

68
00:03:29,146 --> 00:03:32,226
Speaker 1: conference by standings, the first place team in the East

69
00:03:32,386 --> 00:03:34,066
Speaker 1: will play the first place team in the South, and

70
00:03:34,106 --> 00:03:36,026
Speaker 1: the West, the second place will play the two seconds,

71
00:03:36,066 --> 00:03:38,106
Speaker 1: the third will play the two thirds, so that's two

72
00:03:38,106 --> 00:03:41,266
Speaker 1: more games for sixteen, and now in an expanded season,

73
00:03:41,546 --> 00:03:43,866
Speaker 1: will do the same in the other conference, will play

74
00:03:43,906 --> 00:03:47,426
Speaker 1: an interconference game against a division that you are not

75
00:03:47,546 --> 00:03:49,746
Speaker 1: playing already this year, that you didn't play last year,

76
00:03:49,746 --> 00:03:51,706
Speaker 1: that you're not playing next year, and that will be

77
00:03:51,746 --> 00:03:55,746
Speaker 1: a standing space game. This is now even more places

78
00:03:55,786 --> 00:03:57,786
Speaker 1: to put each of those games, and they can go

79
00:03:57,826 --> 00:03:59,946
Speaker 1: now in any one a seventeen weeks. So the solution

80
00:03:59,986 --> 00:04:03,426
Speaker 1: space was already infinite, and we didn't just double or

81
00:04:03,466 --> 00:04:07,906
Speaker 1: triple or quadruple the size of it exponentially increase the

82
00:04:07,906 --> 00:04:10,066
Speaker 1: size of it. We always liken this to try and

83
00:04:10,066 --> 00:04:11,946
Speaker 1: to find the best grain of sand on the beach.

84
00:04:12,506 --> 00:04:14,666
Speaker 1: We're no longer just looking on a beach. We're now

85
00:04:14,706 --> 00:04:18,586
Speaker 1: looking in the Sahara Desert. It is truly, truly infinite.

86
00:04:18,906 --> 00:04:22,106
Speaker 1: We always knew that a seventeen game season was on

87
00:04:22,146 --> 00:04:25,786
Speaker 1: the horizon. Possibly two hundred and fifty six games over

88
00:04:25,826 --> 00:04:29,746
Speaker 1: seventeen weeks, while already all but impossible, it was a

89
00:04:29,746 --> 00:04:33,946
Speaker 1: lot easier than two D seventy two games over eighteen weeks. Look.

90
00:04:33,986 --> 00:04:36,146
Speaker 1: I think that when you go from two hundred fifty

91
00:04:36,146 --> 00:04:39,026
Speaker 1: six games to two D seventy two games, it feels

92
00:04:39,106 --> 00:04:41,426
Speaker 1: like it's sixteen more games. How much harder could it be?

93
00:04:41,546 --> 00:04:44,666
Speaker 1: But when you think about it mathematically in the search space,

94
00:04:44,826 --> 00:04:48,146
Speaker 1: sixteen additional games and a two D seventy two game

95
00:04:48,226 --> 00:04:52,426
Speaker 1: grid just made it exponentially bigger. I can't even quantify

96
00:04:52,466 --> 00:04:54,626
Speaker 1: the numbers. The easiest way to think about it I

97
00:04:54,666 --> 00:04:56,826
Speaker 1: found when I explained it to people is if Howard

98
00:04:56,866 --> 00:04:59,906
Speaker 1: Katz or Roger Goodell says to us, here's ten games

99
00:04:59,986 --> 00:05:02,066
Speaker 1: that I think should be on Sunday night football, there's

100
00:05:02,146 --> 00:05:05,066
Speaker 1: three point six million ways just to lay out those

101
00:05:05,066 --> 00:05:08,106
Speaker 1: ten Sunday night football games. I'm gonna let that sink

102
00:05:08,146 --> 00:05:12,746
Speaker 1: in for a second, three point six million possibilities just

103
00:05:13,066 --> 00:05:16,826
Speaker 1: because Commissioner Goodell might want ten games there. I mean,

104
00:05:16,986 --> 00:05:19,066
Speaker 1: if that gives you some context on the moving parts.

105
00:05:19,186 --> 00:05:21,506
Speaker 1: Kind of crazy, right, It is not easy, But the

106
00:05:21,586 --> 00:05:24,666
Speaker 1: daunting task of creating the NFL schedule didn't actually always

107
00:05:24,666 --> 00:05:28,146
Speaker 1: have computers or coded formulas to make their job easier.

108
00:05:28,186 --> 00:05:31,466
Speaker 1: It was actually done by hand on a corkboard by

109
00:05:31,506 --> 00:05:34,626
Speaker 1: the late Valel Pinchback. Now, Val, who's actually in the

110
00:05:34,666 --> 00:05:37,226
Speaker 1: Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, would sit for hours in

111
00:05:37,266 --> 00:05:41,466
Speaker 1: his office trying to create the perfect NFL schedule by hand,

112
00:05:42,186 --> 00:05:45,266
Speaker 1: no computers. But what you can't see by listening to

113
00:05:45,306 --> 00:05:48,426
Speaker 1: this next clip is the board value used to work with.

114
00:05:48,586 --> 00:05:51,466
Speaker 1: It's a simple, old fashioned corkboard. You got the color

115
00:05:51,546 --> 00:05:55,386
Speaker 1: coded tabs, the pushpins. The team actually might use Excel

116
00:05:55,466 --> 00:05:58,506
Speaker 1: spreadsheets now, but the board is still around and hangs

117
00:05:58,586 --> 00:06:00,626
Speaker 1: on the wall in the war room. And of course

118
00:06:00,666 --> 00:06:03,146
Speaker 1: it does, right. It's a memento and it just looks

119
00:06:03,186 --> 00:06:06,106
Speaker 1: really cool. Now. The team where it gathers to solve

120
00:06:06,266 --> 00:06:09,986
Speaker 1: NFL schedule, that's where the actual board still hangs. That room,

121
00:06:10,026 --> 00:06:13,066
Speaker 1: which is aptly called the vale a Pinchbeck Jr. Room,

122
00:06:13,146 --> 00:06:15,426
Speaker 1: it's just cool. Like I highly recommend just checking out

123
00:06:15,426 --> 00:06:17,306
Speaker 1: the video so you can see just how daunting this

124
00:06:17,466 --> 00:06:19,106
Speaker 1: task is. And you see all the push pins and

125
00:06:19,146 --> 00:06:21,706
Speaker 1: the tabs. It's pretty crazy. But for a little more context,

126
00:06:21,786 --> 00:06:23,866
Speaker 1: Mike North actually starts us off by taking us through

127
00:06:23,906 --> 00:06:26,266
Speaker 1: the history of how the schedule was created with Valve

128
00:06:26,466 --> 00:06:29,626
Speaker 1: up until today, where the team actually uses computers to

129
00:06:29,666 --> 00:06:32,946
Speaker 1: create the schedule. Technology. Oh, I love it. It has

130
00:06:33,026 --> 00:06:36,506
Speaker 1: made the process somewhat easier. Even though it might be

131
00:06:36,546 --> 00:06:40,866
Speaker 1: computer driven, it still takes thousands of computers running algorithms

132
00:06:40,906 --> 00:06:43,866
Speaker 1: to create the best possible schedule. I feel like Cynthia

133
00:06:43,906 --> 00:06:45,826
Speaker 1: Freeland should be involved in this, But the point is

134
00:06:46,146 --> 00:06:48,186
Speaker 1: Mike North and his team they got a lot of

135
00:06:48,186 --> 00:06:52,266
Speaker 1: work to do. Val is kind of the legendary schedule

136
00:06:52,306 --> 00:06:54,986
Speaker 1: maker of the NFL for you know, many many years

137
00:06:55,026 --> 00:06:58,226
Speaker 1: and created the schedule during that time when the NFL

138
00:06:58,506 --> 00:07:00,906
Speaker 1: grew to prominence. If I'm proud of something that's being

139
00:07:00,946 --> 00:07:03,426
Speaker 1: part of the NFL when it gone went from sort

140
00:07:03,426 --> 00:07:05,546
Speaker 1: of a mom and pop thing in the sixties to

141
00:07:05,906 --> 00:07:09,386
Speaker 1: a kind of big business it is today. Valve you know,

142
00:07:09,546 --> 00:07:13,106
Speaker 1: on you know, sheer force of mental will and intuition

143
00:07:13,586 --> 00:07:15,986
Speaker 1: built a schedule by hand, and they were lucky to

144
00:07:16,026 --> 00:07:19,026
Speaker 1: complete one and felt great to complete one that was

145
00:07:19,226 --> 00:07:23,026
Speaker 1: legal and played all the games and got Network TV done.

146
00:07:23,426 --> 00:07:27,226
Speaker 1: And we churned through hundreds every day. And so Val

147
00:07:27,346 --> 00:07:30,026
Speaker 1: used to build the schedule with a board just like this.

148
00:07:30,186 --> 00:07:33,026
Speaker 1: He would sit here and all these tags would be

149
00:07:33,106 --> 00:07:35,466
Speaker 1: hanging down here at the bottom of the board, and

150
00:07:35,546 --> 00:07:37,266
Speaker 1: it would be a blank piece of paper. It would

151
00:07:37,306 --> 00:07:39,986
Speaker 1: be carte blanche Christmas morning. You could do anything you wanted,

152
00:07:40,306 --> 00:07:43,306
Speaker 1: and we would start hanging these tags up one at

153
00:07:43,306 --> 00:07:45,986
Speaker 1: a time. Every game that you like, you put one

154
00:07:46,026 --> 00:07:48,066
Speaker 1: of these colored pins in. These are for our national

155
00:07:48,106 --> 00:07:50,946
Speaker 1: television partners. So if you like this game, this green

156
00:07:51,026 --> 00:07:54,106
Speaker 1: pin goes in the Atlanta Carolina game, and that's on

157
00:07:54,106 --> 00:07:56,986
Speaker 1: Sunday Night Football in Week three. Now, if anybody came

158
00:07:57,026 --> 00:07:59,226
Speaker 1: by this board and gave it a whack, all the

159
00:07:59,266 --> 00:08:02,306
Speaker 1: other tags could fall off, but not that Atlanta Carolina

160
00:08:02,346 --> 00:08:04,306
Speaker 1: game on Sunday Night Football and Week three, that's the

161
00:08:04,306 --> 00:08:06,306
Speaker 1: one that we want in that week, and all the

162
00:08:06,346 --> 00:08:09,266
Speaker 1: others really just needed to find a home. As we

163
00:08:09,346 --> 00:08:11,866
Speaker 1: built the schedule by hand, every single one of these

164
00:08:11,866 --> 00:08:13,826
Speaker 1: tags that moved every single one of these pins that

165
00:08:13,946 --> 00:08:16,986
Speaker 1: moved caused a ripple effect that you couldn't even begin

166
00:08:17,026 --> 00:08:19,866
Speaker 1: to consider. While you were doing this, one dag at

167
00:08:19,866 --> 00:08:22,906
Speaker 1: a time, one game at a time. And Val was

168
00:08:22,946 --> 00:08:26,146
Speaker 1: a savant. Val could sit and stare at this board

169
00:08:26,706 --> 00:08:29,946
Speaker 1: for hours on end, and he would sit here and

170
00:08:29,986 --> 00:08:33,626
Speaker 1: he would crack open pistachios and he would eat the

171
00:08:33,626 --> 00:08:37,146
Speaker 1: pistachios and stare at the board, and he put the

172
00:08:37,226 --> 00:08:41,146
Speaker 1: shells on his belly. And so after about twenty minutes

173
00:08:41,186 --> 00:08:43,866
Speaker 1: he'd have a whole bunch of empty shells and he'd

174
00:08:43,866 --> 00:08:47,666
Speaker 1: gets struck by inspiration. He'd stand up, dumped the shells

175
00:08:47,666 --> 00:08:51,586
Speaker 1: into the garbage. Move this tag here, move that tag there,

176
00:08:51,706 --> 00:08:54,666
Speaker 1: move that tag there, and move that tag there. It

177
00:08:54,786 --> 00:08:58,066
Speaker 1: was amazing to watch. It's inconceivable to think that we

178
00:08:58,106 --> 00:09:00,226
Speaker 1: could even do this thing by hand right now. So

179
00:09:00,266 --> 00:09:03,146
Speaker 1: we're very fortunate to have a really robust piece of

180
00:09:03,186 --> 00:09:07,466
Speaker 1: software that essentially looks just like this. When we talk

181
00:09:07,546 --> 00:09:10,946
Speaker 1: about what our software prints out, it prints out this board,

182
00:09:11,026 --> 00:09:13,986
Speaker 1: the reds and blues for CBS and Fox, the greens

183
00:09:13,986 --> 00:09:17,466
Speaker 1: and yellows for NBC and ESPN. We essentially built a

184
00:09:17,506 --> 00:09:20,786
Speaker 1: piece of software to mirror the process that value used

185
00:09:20,826 --> 00:09:23,626
Speaker 1: to go through when he sat here with his pistachio

186
00:09:23,746 --> 00:09:26,186
Speaker 1: nuts and stared at it. So this looks a lot

187
00:09:26,346 --> 00:09:28,746
Speaker 1: like that. It's the same colors, it's the same grid,

188
00:09:28,786 --> 00:09:31,506
Speaker 1: it's the same columns in the same rows. This piece

189
00:09:31,546 --> 00:09:33,506
Speaker 1: of software was built by a company out of Western

190
00:09:33,546 --> 00:09:37,066
Speaker 1: Canada called Optimal Planning Solutions. So we write the rules

191
00:09:37,066 --> 00:09:40,626
Speaker 1: in the software, and then the software from Optimal Planning

192
00:09:40,706 --> 00:09:45,466
Speaker 1: uses an optimizer called Grobi optimization, which takes all the

193
00:09:45,546 --> 00:09:47,826
Speaker 1: rules and really tries to figure out, Okay, if there's

194
00:09:47,826 --> 00:09:50,026
Speaker 1: an infinite solution space, and these are all the rules

195
00:09:50,026 --> 00:09:52,426
Speaker 1: I have to follow, where do I even start. When

196
00:09:52,466 --> 00:09:54,906
Speaker 1: we asked the computer to go off and search through

197
00:09:54,906 --> 00:09:56,946
Speaker 1: the infinite space, not only does it need to know

198
00:09:57,426 --> 00:09:59,586
Speaker 1: which of these games are eligible for which of these

199
00:09:59,626 --> 00:10:01,866
Speaker 1: time slots, and certainly which of these stadiums are not

200
00:10:01,906 --> 00:10:06,986
Speaker 1: available for various conflicts, and what are our travel considerations

201
00:10:07,066 --> 00:10:09,306
Speaker 1: and all the stuff that we're asking it to consider

202
00:10:09,746 --> 00:10:14,146
Speaker 1: in that consideration list is competitive fairness. So the way

203
00:10:14,146 --> 00:10:16,706
Speaker 1: we do that is with a negative based scoring system,

204
00:10:16,706 --> 00:10:18,986
Speaker 1: where we put a penalty on all the things we

205
00:10:19,026 --> 00:10:22,626
Speaker 1: don't want to see. That's both team wise and television wise, So,

206
00:10:22,706 --> 00:10:24,986
Speaker 1: for instance, three game road trips and road after road

207
00:10:25,026 --> 00:10:27,666
Speaker 1: mondays and early buys, and to a way to start

208
00:10:27,706 --> 00:10:29,266
Speaker 1: and too a way to finish, and all the things

209
00:10:29,266 --> 00:10:31,306
Speaker 1: that we know the coaches and general managers don't like.

210
00:10:31,426 --> 00:10:33,306
Speaker 1: If I had a three game road trip last year,

211
00:10:33,546 --> 00:10:35,346
Speaker 1: then the penalty for me having a three game road

212
00:10:35,346 --> 00:10:38,546
Speaker 1: trip again this year should be significantly higher than for

213
00:10:38,586 --> 00:10:40,866
Speaker 1: someone else who probably hasn't had a three game road

214
00:10:40,866 --> 00:10:43,706
Speaker 1: trips since two thousand and three. We're also writing rules

215
00:10:43,746 --> 00:10:46,626
Speaker 1: about a strong Sunday night football schedule, a strong Monday

216
00:10:46,706 --> 00:10:49,226
Speaker 1: night football schedule, a strong Thursday night football schedule. If

217
00:10:49,266 --> 00:10:51,586
Speaker 1: we can't deliver all those things that our network partners

218
00:10:51,586 --> 00:10:53,626
Speaker 1: are looking for, that should bring a penalty as well.

219
00:10:53,986 --> 00:10:58,386
Speaker 1: The lower the score, hopefully, the less disappointed the clubs

220
00:10:58,426 --> 00:11:00,986
Speaker 1: and the television partners are going to be. The ability

221
00:11:01,266 --> 00:11:04,466
Speaker 1: for our software can't be underestimated in the sense that

222
00:11:04,626 --> 00:11:08,626
Speaker 1: being able to access hundreds, if not thousands, of machines

223
00:11:08,706 --> 00:11:12,266
Speaker 1: on a daily, nightly hourly basis, and and just the

224
00:11:12,266 --> 00:11:16,026
Speaker 1: computing power that's involved in there allows us to turn

225
00:11:16,066 --> 00:11:20,866
Speaker 1: around scenarios and changes how we are able to think bigger,

226
00:11:21,746 --> 00:11:24,866
Speaker 1: analyze more, but also reactive things. We can go in

227
00:11:24,986 --> 00:11:27,906
Speaker 1: and we can look at it. These are four separate clusters.

228
00:11:28,306 --> 00:11:31,106
Speaker 1: There's between two hundred and three hundred computers in each

229
00:11:31,106 --> 00:11:34,226
Speaker 1: one of these clusters, and each one of these clusters

230
00:11:34,346 --> 00:11:36,946
Speaker 1: is looking on a slightly different part of the beach.

231
00:11:37,546 --> 00:11:39,746
Speaker 1: This one might have green Bay, Kansas City on Sunday

232
00:11:39,826 --> 00:11:42,226
Speaker 1: Night Football in week seven. This one might have green Bay,

233
00:11:42,306 --> 00:11:44,626
Speaker 1: Kansas City on Sunday Night football. And week nine, this

234
00:11:44,666 --> 00:11:46,426
Speaker 1: one might not have green Bay, Kansas City on Sunday

235
00:11:46,466 --> 00:11:48,906
Speaker 1: Night football at all. It might be on Monday Night football.

236
00:11:49,066 --> 00:11:50,786
Speaker 1: And this one might have green Bay, Kansas City as

237
00:11:50,786 --> 00:11:53,506
Speaker 1: a Fox doubleheader. So it will run on this one

238
00:11:53,546 --> 00:11:56,346
Speaker 1: seed schedule, that one computer for as long as it takes.

239
00:11:56,626 --> 00:12:00,346
Speaker 1: And so every single day we have thousands of computers,

240
00:12:00,546 --> 00:12:03,826
Speaker 1: all with slightly different seed schedules, all searching through this

241
00:12:03,866 --> 00:12:06,906
Speaker 1: infinite space trying to find a better score. They can

242
00:12:06,906 --> 00:12:08,706
Speaker 1: do a lot of aim high steering for us that

243
00:12:08,746 --> 00:12:11,106
Speaker 1: we could never do when we were building this schedule

244
00:12:11,106 --> 00:12:13,466
Speaker 1: by hand. All right, So I get it, your head

245
00:12:13,506 --> 00:12:16,106
Speaker 1: is spinning. I think if I said to Mike, and

246
00:12:16,186 --> 00:12:17,946
Speaker 1: we actually have the interview with Mike North coming up

247
00:12:17,946 --> 00:12:19,866
Speaker 1: in just a bit, so maybe we'll ask him this question.

248
00:12:19,946 --> 00:12:22,346
Speaker 1: But the process that Mike just sort of laid out

249
00:12:22,706 --> 00:12:26,666
Speaker 1: val essentially did the job of thousands of computers, which

250
00:12:27,106 --> 00:12:29,506
Speaker 1: Mike said he's a savant, and he is because it's remarkable.

251
00:12:29,786 --> 00:12:31,826
Speaker 1: So now that the computers have actually done their thing,

252
00:12:31,906 --> 00:12:34,546
Speaker 1: what happens next, Well, Howard Katz and the team actually

253
00:12:34,586 --> 00:12:38,226
Speaker 1: have to present the strongest schedule to the commissioner, Roger Goodell. Now,

254
00:12:38,266 --> 00:12:40,386
Speaker 1: the schedule has got to feature the best teams and

255
00:12:40,586 --> 00:12:43,026
Speaker 1: player matchups every single week. But what happens at the

256
00:12:43,106 --> 00:12:45,826
Speaker 1: end of March when free agency hits or team trades.

257
00:12:46,066 --> 00:12:48,586
Speaker 1: It's star quarterback I don't know, like Russell Wilson all

258
00:12:48,626 --> 00:12:50,706
Speaker 1: of a sudden is a member of the Denver Broncos,

259
00:12:50,906 --> 00:12:52,666
Speaker 1: and the rest of the a f C West goes

260
00:12:52,706 --> 00:12:55,346
Speaker 1: on a free agent spending spree that we have maybe

261
00:12:55,386 --> 00:12:59,666
Speaker 1: never seen before. Well, when we return on NFL Explained,

262
00:12:59,666 --> 00:13:01,666
Speaker 1: I get the chance to talk to Mike North about

263
00:13:01,666 --> 00:13:05,706
Speaker 1: how free agency blockbuster deals and how other small details

264
00:13:05,826 --> 00:13:18,586
Speaker 1: could possibly affect the schedule. Right before the release state, Hi,

265
00:13:18,666 --> 00:13:20,986
Speaker 1: I'm Mike. Yeah, I mean, welcome back to NFL Explained.

266
00:13:21,066 --> 00:13:23,506
Speaker 1: Now this week we're breaking down how the NFL schedule

267
00:13:23,746 --> 00:13:26,266
Speaker 1: is created. But before the break, we got into the

268
00:13:26,386 --> 00:13:30,306
Speaker 1: history and how technology has made this almost an impossible

269
00:13:30,426 --> 00:13:32,826
Speaker 1: job just a little bit easier. But each year during

270
00:13:32,866 --> 00:13:35,546
Speaker 1: the off season, there are little things that pop up

271
00:13:35,666 --> 00:13:38,826
Speaker 1: or massive things that will arise, like a player switching

272
00:13:38,866 --> 00:13:42,706
Speaker 1: teams that suddenly changes the algorithms and the computers that

273
00:13:42,746 --> 00:13:45,266
Speaker 1: are running to create the best possible schedule. So this

274
00:13:45,306 --> 00:13:48,466
Speaker 1: off season, which has been filled with major personnel changes

275
00:13:48,506 --> 00:13:50,306
Speaker 1: around the league, I I've been calling it. I know

276
00:13:50,346 --> 00:13:52,666
Speaker 1: people around the office have been calling it the craziest

277
00:13:52,746 --> 00:13:56,666
Speaker 1: offseason that the league has ever seen. That probably created

278
00:13:56,706 --> 00:14:00,346
Speaker 1: a little bit of issues for the algorithm or algorithms

279
00:14:00,426 --> 00:14:02,906
Speaker 1: I should say plural, because without sends of computers, like,

280
00:14:02,946 --> 00:14:04,826
Speaker 1: there's a lot going on here. So I got an

281
00:14:04,826 --> 00:14:07,026
Speaker 1: opportunity to sit down out with Mike North to see

282
00:14:07,066 --> 00:14:17,466
Speaker 1: how challenging it actually is to create this season schedule. Mike,

283
00:14:17,506 --> 00:14:19,746
Speaker 1: I think every single year, it's pretty clear that there

284
00:14:19,786 --> 00:14:23,586
Speaker 1: are inherent challenges that are unique to the schedule. What's

285
00:14:23,626 --> 00:14:26,546
Speaker 1: the biggest challenge for this year, Well, there's a few

286
00:14:26,546 --> 00:14:29,506
Speaker 1: of them. One of them was all the uncertainty as

287
00:14:29,546 --> 00:14:32,506
Speaker 1: we started the process. Generally speaking, you walk into that

288
00:14:32,586 --> 00:14:35,106
Speaker 1: room the day after the Super Bowl, and you know

289
00:14:35,186 --> 00:14:37,426
Speaker 1: Howard Kat's and Annie Bows and the team already have

290
00:14:37,506 --> 00:14:40,786
Speaker 1: a feel for uh, this is musty TV. This is

291
00:14:40,826 --> 00:14:43,346
Speaker 1: the biggest game or the top three biggest games of

292
00:14:43,386 --> 00:14:44,946
Speaker 1: the year. Here's a couple of teams we think are

293
00:14:44,986 --> 00:14:48,746
Speaker 1: on the rise. Let's make sure we showcase them properly. U.

294
00:14:48,946 --> 00:14:50,986
Speaker 1: I'm not sure we had that when we walked into

295
00:14:51,026 --> 00:14:54,106
Speaker 1: the room right after the Super Bowl. Obviously Tom Brady

296
00:14:54,466 --> 00:14:59,546
Speaker 1: was retired at the time. So as I've talked about

297
00:14:59,586 --> 00:15:01,146
Speaker 1: lots of times, you know, we try to treat each

298
00:15:01,146 --> 00:15:03,666
Speaker 1: one of these two seventy two games as an asset,

299
00:15:04,066 --> 00:15:06,986
Speaker 1: and they're all worth something, whether give it a score

300
00:15:07,226 --> 00:15:10,466
Speaker 1: or a metric, or a rating or a grade, however

301
00:15:10,506 --> 00:15:13,146
Speaker 1: it is. You delineate between the value of this game

302
00:15:13,266 --> 00:15:15,946
Speaker 1: versus that game. Every game has got a score to it.

303
00:15:16,466 --> 00:15:18,866
Speaker 1: And the Tampa Bay games were worth something when Tom

304
00:15:18,866 --> 00:15:22,346
Speaker 1: Brady was their quarterback. They were worth something different when

305
00:15:22,386 --> 00:15:25,546
Speaker 1: Tom Brady was retired, and they were suddenly worth something

306
00:15:25,586 --> 00:15:28,466
Speaker 1: different again when Tom Brady decided that he had enough.

307
00:15:28,626 --> 00:15:32,186
Speaker 1: So we, uh, we had to be kind of flexible,

308
00:15:32,906 --> 00:15:35,346
Speaker 1: you know, even as we started this process, knowing that

309
00:15:35,466 --> 00:15:39,546
Speaker 1: there were still some dominoes to fall. Obviously, Russell Wilson

310
00:15:39,746 --> 00:15:43,346
Speaker 1: changing teams like he did makes you look immediately for

311
00:15:43,466 --> 00:15:46,626
Speaker 1: a game like Denver at Seattle. You know, our job

312
00:15:46,666 --> 00:15:48,906
Speaker 1: here is to tell the biggest stories in the biggest

313
00:15:48,946 --> 00:15:50,666
Speaker 1: windows and make sure that the fans that want to

314
00:15:50,706 --> 00:15:54,106
Speaker 1: watch the biggest games have an opportunity to you know,

315
00:15:54,186 --> 00:15:58,586
Speaker 1: the Denver at Seattle game, Russell Wilson's return after twenty years,

316
00:15:58,626 --> 00:16:01,026
Speaker 1: and all those all pro nods in a Super Bowl ring.

317
00:16:01,426 --> 00:16:03,306
Speaker 1: You know, we're not doing our jobs if that game

318
00:16:03,386 --> 00:16:06,386
Speaker 1: falls it you know, one oh five Pacific time with

319
00:16:06,466 --> 00:16:09,706
Speaker 1: two other games going on opposite a big doubleheader game

320
00:16:10,226 --> 00:16:13,306
Speaker 1: on Fox that day. I mean, that's not good use

321
00:16:13,386 --> 00:16:17,106
Speaker 1: of the Denver at Seattle asset. So how do you

322
00:16:17,106 --> 00:16:19,386
Speaker 1: find the right home for that game? You know, like

323
00:16:19,426 --> 00:16:22,426
Speaker 1: we said, Tom Brady coming back, the Buccaneers have an

324
00:16:22,426 --> 00:16:25,706
Speaker 1: incredible schedule this year. They played Green Day, they played Dallas,

325
00:16:25,786 --> 00:16:29,186
Speaker 1: they played the Super Bowl champion Rams, they play Cincinnati,

326
00:16:29,186 --> 00:16:31,986
Speaker 1: they played Kansas City. I mean, it's amazing all the

327
00:16:31,986 --> 00:16:35,426
Speaker 1: good Tampa Bay games this year. They were gonna be assets.

328
00:16:35,466 --> 00:16:38,426
Speaker 1: Even if Tom Brady had decided to remain retired They're

329
00:16:38,426 --> 00:16:40,786
Speaker 1: obviously worth a lot more with him back under center,

330
00:16:40,866 --> 00:16:43,706
Speaker 1: So we kind of had to shift like we always do,

331
00:16:43,986 --> 00:16:46,586
Speaker 1: and we joke, you know, the project changes not only

332
00:16:46,626 --> 00:16:49,906
Speaker 1: every year but really every day, and this year was

333
00:16:50,106 --> 00:16:53,106
Speaker 1: no different and in fact, maybe even more challenging than ever.

334
00:16:53,626 --> 00:16:55,946
Speaker 1: How crazy is the text read with you and your

335
00:16:55,986 --> 00:16:59,586
Speaker 1: team over the course of free agency. You mentioned Brady, Look,

336
00:16:59,626 --> 00:17:02,426
Speaker 1: I was doing shows and it's just kind of wild

337
00:17:02,586 --> 00:17:05,546
Speaker 1: to see the amount of movement I've classified. This is

338
00:17:05,546 --> 00:17:08,826
Speaker 1: the craziest you know, offseason maybe the NFL has ever had.

339
00:17:09,586 --> 00:17:11,906
Speaker 1: Is it is the communication like, oh my god, this

340
00:17:11,946 --> 00:17:14,026
Speaker 1: is really cooler, Oh my god, Like, hey, the piece

341
00:17:14,026 --> 00:17:17,226
Speaker 1: of the schedule we just we're working on just got busted. Yeah,

342
00:17:17,306 --> 00:17:19,786
Speaker 1: bit of both. I mean, the good part about the

343
00:17:19,826 --> 00:17:25,426
Speaker 1: scheduling team is we are all still fans, big fans,

344
00:17:25,866 --> 00:17:29,026
Speaker 1: and your gut reaction to a big move. Yeah, there's

345
00:17:29,066 --> 00:17:31,546
Speaker 1: a lot of holy cow and o mgs and and

346
00:17:31,586 --> 00:17:35,866
Speaker 1: stuff like that, sharing of Twitter feeds, um, and then

347
00:17:35,906 --> 00:17:38,986
Speaker 1: you take a second and now you think to yourself, professionally,

348
00:17:39,346 --> 00:17:42,346
Speaker 1: oh man, everything we've just worked on for the last

349
00:17:42,386 --> 00:17:45,186
Speaker 1: two weeks, three weeks, two months, three months. Right in

350
00:17:45,186 --> 00:17:47,906
Speaker 1: the trash start all over again. Tomorrow is gonna be fun.

351
00:17:48,106 --> 00:17:52,026
Speaker 1: But you know, this is what makes the NFL so great.

352
00:17:52,066 --> 00:17:54,506
Speaker 1: You know, it's not just the off season movement, but

353
00:17:54,906 --> 00:17:56,946
Speaker 1: you know it happens in season as well. I mean,

354
00:17:56,986 --> 00:17:59,106
Speaker 1: look what happened last year and the last few weeks

355
00:17:59,106 --> 00:18:01,586
Speaker 1: of the season. You had teams go from you know,

356
00:18:01,666 --> 00:18:04,946
Speaker 1: the one seed to missing the playoffs. You had the

357
00:18:05,066 --> 00:18:07,906
Speaker 1: Rams play in for the two seed, losing in the

358
00:18:07,946 --> 00:18:10,226
Speaker 1: final week, dropping all the way to the four still

359
00:18:10,346 --> 00:18:13,586
Speaker 1: end up posting the championship game. You know, every weekend,

360
00:18:13,586 --> 00:18:16,426
Speaker 1: as you go down the stretch right there, the league

361
00:18:16,426 --> 00:18:19,226
Speaker 1: seems to turn on its ear, and so the scheduling

362
00:18:19,226 --> 00:18:21,066
Speaker 1: team is busy at that point as well, thinking about

363
00:18:21,106 --> 00:18:24,386
Speaker 1: flexible scheduling for Sunday night and Saturday games and looking

364
00:18:24,386 --> 00:18:26,106
Speaker 1: ahead to which games are gonna be scheduled in which

365
00:18:26,106 --> 00:18:29,706
Speaker 1: playoff windows. So it's great as a fan that there

366
00:18:29,786 --> 00:18:32,066
Speaker 1: is so much uncertainty and so much turnover and so

367
00:18:32,146 --> 00:18:34,586
Speaker 1: much volatility in the league. But yeah, as a member

368
00:18:34,626 --> 00:18:37,226
Speaker 1: of the scheduling team, yeah, it'd be nice if everybody

369
00:18:37,266 --> 00:18:39,666
Speaker 1: just picked their teams and stayed in one place on

370
00:18:39,746 --> 00:18:42,506
Speaker 1: February seven, But we know that's not how it works,

371
00:18:42,506 --> 00:18:44,826
Speaker 1: and we were braced for it this year, and I

372
00:18:44,906 --> 00:18:47,866
Speaker 1: think we got a lot of good experience last year

373
00:18:47,946 --> 00:18:53,026
Speaker 1: with our first seventeen game eighteen weeks season. We knew

374
00:18:53,226 --> 00:18:57,106
Speaker 1: that that the solution space, which was already essentially infinite

375
00:18:57,626 --> 00:19:00,466
Speaker 1: um more than doubled or tripled in size. Now it

376
00:19:00,546 --> 00:19:04,106
Speaker 1: exponentially increased, just because every single game now has another

377
00:19:04,146 --> 00:19:08,066
Speaker 1: potential home. We all last year how incredibly vast the

378
00:19:08,106 --> 00:19:11,066
Speaker 1: solution space was and sort of convinced ourselves, Hey, there's

379
00:19:11,106 --> 00:19:13,466
Speaker 1: a schedule out there. If you're looking for one that

380
00:19:13,506 --> 00:19:14,946
Speaker 1: has this game in week four and that game in

381
00:19:14,946 --> 00:19:16,626
Speaker 1: week eight, and this game on CBS and that game

382
00:19:16,666 --> 00:19:18,826
Speaker 1: on ESPN, and doesn't give that team a three game

383
00:19:18,946 --> 00:19:20,946
Speaker 1: road trip and make sure that this team has an

384
00:19:20,986 --> 00:19:23,186
Speaker 1: East Coast game on their way to Europe. There's a

385
00:19:23,226 --> 00:19:25,546
Speaker 1: schedule out there. Mike. What's kind of crazy is we're

386
00:19:25,546 --> 00:19:28,506
Speaker 1: talking about player movement and the changes that come with

387
00:19:28,626 --> 00:19:31,626
Speaker 1: roster and how it affects the schedule. You know, Look,

388
00:19:31,626 --> 00:19:35,266
Speaker 1: maybe this is inside baseball, but obviously a broadcaster myself,

389
00:19:35,306 --> 00:19:38,666
Speaker 1: I can't help but notice the amount of broadcast teams

390
00:19:38,746 --> 00:19:41,586
Speaker 1: that have now changed when it comes to play by

391
00:19:41,586 --> 00:19:44,466
Speaker 1: play and color analysts now switching networks? Does that at

392
00:19:44,466 --> 00:19:47,826
Speaker 1: all have an effect on the schedule? Look again, as

393
00:19:47,906 --> 00:19:52,186
Speaker 1: fans and as consumers and as viewers, it can't not

394
00:19:52,706 --> 00:19:55,426
Speaker 1: have an effect. I can't tell you that all of

395
00:19:55,426 --> 00:19:58,626
Speaker 1: a sudden, you know, the ESPN schedule went from you know,

396
00:19:59,466 --> 00:20:01,706
Speaker 1: A to an A plus simply because they spent all

397
00:20:01,706 --> 00:20:05,026
Speaker 1: that extra money on bucking Ekman. But you know, certainly

398
00:20:05,106 --> 00:20:09,626
Speaker 1: their first game together in an ESPN booth. Mmmm, that's

399
00:20:09,666 --> 00:20:11,826
Speaker 1: kind of interesting. And there's a handful of games this

400
00:20:11,906 --> 00:20:15,306
Speaker 1: year that are gonna be simulcast on ABC plus you

401
00:20:15,346 --> 00:20:17,706
Speaker 1: bring the Manning cast into it. We've got a week

402
00:20:17,786 --> 00:20:19,426
Speaker 1: now where there's going to be an ABC in an

403
00:20:19,626 --> 00:20:22,306
Speaker 1: ESPN each with their own game kind of side by

404
00:20:22,346 --> 00:20:25,786
Speaker 1: side on Monday Night or staggered starts. So, um, did

405
00:20:25,786 --> 00:20:29,786
Speaker 1: we suddenly change everything because of the broadcaster movement? No?

406
00:20:30,586 --> 00:20:32,626
Speaker 1: Are we aware of it? And does it factor in

407
00:20:32,666 --> 00:20:35,066
Speaker 1: a little bit? It kind of has to. You know,

408
00:20:35,106 --> 00:20:38,466
Speaker 1: we've all got friends who love this announcer and hate

409
00:20:38,466 --> 00:20:42,186
Speaker 1: that announcer. But honestly, I'm struggling to think of a

410
00:20:42,226 --> 00:20:44,386
Speaker 1: time where if a friend has told me that I

411
00:20:44,426 --> 00:20:46,946
Speaker 1: will only watch a game if that announcers doing it

412
00:20:47,026 --> 00:20:48,906
Speaker 1: or I will never watch a game if that announcers

413
00:20:48,946 --> 00:20:50,786
Speaker 1: doing it. But you know, when we were growing up,

414
00:20:50,866 --> 00:20:53,466
Speaker 1: you remember you turned on the television and you heard

415
00:20:53,466 --> 00:20:56,986
Speaker 1: Pat summer All or Brent Musburger. You knew it was

416
00:20:57,026 --> 00:20:59,226
Speaker 1: a big game. And I think we're all conditioned to

417
00:20:59,386 --> 00:21:01,746
Speaker 1: know that now with a guy like Joe Buck, and

418
00:21:01,786 --> 00:21:03,906
Speaker 1: I think when we all turn on Monday night football,

419
00:21:04,386 --> 00:21:07,946
Speaker 1: you hear Buck a aikman, it sounds like a football game.

420
00:21:08,146 --> 00:21:11,546
Speaker 1: And is that suddenly gonna mean, you know, a wildly

421
00:21:11,586 --> 00:21:14,466
Speaker 1: different schedule. No, they're still going to get what they

422
00:21:14,466 --> 00:21:16,906
Speaker 1: get and you know, obviously trying to maximize for all

423
00:21:16,906 --> 00:21:20,826
Speaker 1: of our partners, but massive changes, no minor considerations a

424
00:21:20,826 --> 00:21:23,946
Speaker 1: couple of times a year. Yeah, Mike, you're awesome. My

425
00:21:24,026 --> 00:21:25,546
Speaker 1: first time talking to you, I thought you were going

426
00:21:25,586 --> 00:21:28,026
Speaker 1: to say, no, no, it doesn't affect it. I don't

427
00:21:28,026 --> 00:21:29,306
Speaker 1: think you were going to say, yeah, it's a factor.

428
00:21:29,346 --> 00:21:31,666
Speaker 1: But no, I can go, I can go all that.

429
00:21:31,786 --> 00:21:35,826
Speaker 1: I love this stuff, and I love how everybody has

430
00:21:35,866 --> 00:21:38,826
Speaker 1: started over the last few years. You know this, this

431
00:21:38,906 --> 00:21:41,026
Speaker 1: was a black box for a long time. With all

432
00:21:41,106 --> 00:21:43,706
Speaker 1: due respect to you know, the val Pinchbecks of the

433
00:21:43,706 --> 00:21:45,666
Speaker 1: world who used to literally have to build this thing

434
00:21:45,746 --> 00:21:48,426
Speaker 1: by hand, one game at a time. You knew that

435
00:21:48,546 --> 00:21:52,186
Speaker 1: wasn't gonna be your best product. And the stakes are

436
00:21:52,346 --> 00:21:55,546
Speaker 1: too high now and the constituents are too smart that

437
00:21:55,586 --> 00:21:58,306
Speaker 1: we couldn't really afford to do it that way anymore. So.

438
00:21:58,426 --> 00:22:02,066
Speaker 1: To the NFL's credit, they put an incredible amount of

439
00:22:02,106 --> 00:22:06,306
Speaker 1: time and energy and resources and money into doing this

440
00:22:06,426 --> 00:22:10,586
Speaker 1: project smarter, better, more efficiently. We owe it to our partners,

441
00:22:10,586 --> 00:22:12,666
Speaker 1: they're paying us an awful lot of money. We owe

442
00:22:12,666 --> 00:22:15,266
Speaker 1: it to our fans they come to the television weekend

443
00:22:15,306 --> 00:22:17,706
Speaker 1: after weekend. We're not doing our jobs if we're not

444
00:22:17,746 --> 00:22:20,626
Speaker 1: giving them our best product. And so it is a

445
00:22:20,906 --> 00:22:25,386
Speaker 1: never ending pursuit of, you know, an impossible task. Howard

446
00:22:25,466 --> 00:22:28,386
Speaker 1: Kats always refers to the scheduling process as the definition

447
00:22:28,426 --> 00:22:30,906
Speaker 1: of insanity. We do the same thing over and over

448
00:22:30,906 --> 00:22:33,866
Speaker 1: and over again and expect a different result. One of

449
00:22:33,866 --> 00:22:35,586
Speaker 1: these days. We just hope that the computers are going

450
00:22:35,626 --> 00:22:38,266
Speaker 1: to spit out the perfect schedule. Somewhere in this infinite

451
00:22:38,306 --> 00:22:41,746
Speaker 1: solution space. It's gonna find the one, The magical, mythical

452
00:22:41,826 --> 00:22:47,146
Speaker 1: perfect schedule satisfies all thirty two teams, all seven network partners, Uh,

453
00:22:47,266 --> 00:22:50,626
Speaker 1: that schedule probably doesn't exist. But I'm grateful that the

454
00:22:50,746 --> 00:22:55,266
Speaker 1: NFL is willing to spend the resources in what maybe

455
00:22:55,266 --> 00:22:58,346
Speaker 1: a fruitless pursuit, but in pursuit of that optimal schedule.

456
00:22:58,506 --> 00:23:00,946
Speaker 1: And we're getting closer. We're not there, but we're getting closer.

457
00:23:01,066 --> 00:23:02,826
Speaker 1: I love your honesty and the fact that you're willing

458
00:23:02,826 --> 00:23:06,506
Speaker 1: to go there. Uh, Germany, how does that effects this

459
00:23:06,586 --> 00:23:11,186
Speaker 1: year's schedule? Well, Germany was interesting because the league, our

460
00:23:11,266 --> 00:23:15,346
Speaker 1: international partners, are friends over in Germany. At Byron, everybody

461
00:23:15,386 --> 00:23:19,066
Speaker 1: had sort of rallied around and and almost settled on

462
00:23:19,226 --> 00:23:23,866
Speaker 1: and frankly almost locked in Tampa Bay as the first

463
00:23:24,346 --> 00:23:27,706
Speaker 1: host team for our first game in Germany since the

464
00:23:27,986 --> 00:23:31,786
Speaker 1: World League wrapped up. And yeah, you can't do any

465
00:23:31,826 --> 00:23:34,626
Speaker 1: better than you know, going over there with Tom Brady.

466
00:23:34,746 --> 00:23:39,106
Speaker 1: Then Tom retired, and I know our folks rethought it

467
00:23:39,226 --> 00:23:41,586
Speaker 1: for a minute and wondered, is there a better path

468
00:23:41,666 --> 00:23:45,306
Speaker 1: for year one. To their credit, they stayed with Tampa.

469
00:23:45,666 --> 00:23:48,466
Speaker 1: That's still the team that you know, the fans over

470
00:23:48,506 --> 00:23:52,066
Speaker 1: there recognized, identify with as I think you know, you know,

471
00:23:52,106 --> 00:23:53,946
Speaker 1: each of the NFL clubs had a chance to put

472
00:23:53,986 --> 00:23:57,226
Speaker 1: in for certain international markets, and Tampa saw Germany as

473
00:23:57,266 --> 00:23:59,786
Speaker 1: a good opportunity for them and a good compliment to

474
00:23:59,826 --> 00:24:03,586
Speaker 1: their brand, if you will. So it's not without its challenges.

475
00:24:03,666 --> 00:24:06,466
Speaker 1: Obviously we're in a World Cup year, so trying to

476
00:24:06,546 --> 00:24:11,306
Speaker 1: work around stadium availability, Bundesliga schedules, There's still some qualifying

477
00:24:11,386 --> 00:24:13,706
Speaker 1: left to be done for the World Cup. Um the

478
00:24:13,786 --> 00:24:16,186
Speaker 1: windows in which we were gonna be able to play

479
00:24:16,226 --> 00:24:18,866
Speaker 1: some of these international games, we always go through it.

480
00:24:18,986 --> 00:24:21,386
Speaker 1: In England, we always try to use the international break

481
00:24:21,386 --> 00:24:24,986
Speaker 1: because obviously Wembley is a big part of international qualifying

482
00:24:25,186 --> 00:24:27,706
Speaker 1: in the UK. Now we also had to work around

483
00:24:28,066 --> 00:24:31,946
Speaker 1: the Bundesliga schedule and the Mexican schedule as we're playing

484
00:24:31,946 --> 00:24:34,826
Speaker 1: in Mexico City as well, So working around all of that,

485
00:24:34,866 --> 00:24:36,546
Speaker 1: trying to find the right window of the right day,

486
00:24:36,586 --> 00:24:38,506
Speaker 1: trying to find the right teams, and then working with

487
00:24:38,506 --> 00:24:40,706
Speaker 1: those teams to figure out how do you want to

488
00:24:40,746 --> 00:24:43,466
Speaker 1: handle an international trip. You know you've been doing this

489
00:24:43,506 --> 00:24:45,626
Speaker 1: long enough, Mike. You know when teams started going over

490
00:24:45,666 --> 00:24:48,626
Speaker 1: to London eight ten years ago, it was this big,

491
00:24:48,666 --> 00:24:53,426
Speaker 1: wild new experience. Teams would leave like the Sunday nights

492
00:24:53,426 --> 00:24:56,826
Speaker 1: sometimes or the Monday after their previous week's game. Get

493
00:24:56,866 --> 00:24:59,506
Speaker 1: over to the UK, get into their practice facility, figure

494
00:24:59,506 --> 00:25:03,266
Speaker 1: out a training schedule, asleep schedule, and eating schedule. It's

495
00:25:03,346 --> 00:25:05,466
Speaker 1: changed a lot, you know, the sports science world has

496
00:25:05,546 --> 00:25:08,026
Speaker 1: changed Inched a lot. There's guys going over now Thursday

497
00:25:08,026 --> 00:25:10,906
Speaker 1: Friday treating it just like a regular road game, which

498
00:25:10,906 --> 00:25:13,426
Speaker 1: for some teams, frankly, it is. You know, sometimes the

499
00:25:13,426 --> 00:25:16,186
Speaker 1: trip to the UK might be less than a trip

500
00:25:16,226 --> 00:25:18,466
Speaker 1: that you might have to take domestically, like Miami going

501
00:25:18,546 --> 00:25:21,386
Speaker 1: to Seattle or something like that, so everybody handles it

502
00:25:21,386 --> 00:25:23,146
Speaker 1: a little bit differently. I'm sure we will learn a

503
00:25:23,226 --> 00:25:27,026
Speaker 1: lot from this first exposure in Germany, but certainly having

504
00:25:27,026 --> 00:25:29,666
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay going over and having Tom Brady back at

505
00:25:29,746 --> 00:25:32,306
Speaker 1: quarterback is going to make that feel like a much

506
00:25:32,346 --> 00:25:35,826
Speaker 1: bigger experience than it would have probably otherwise. But it'll

507
00:25:35,906 --> 00:25:37,706
Speaker 1: it'll be fun. I think this is one of those

508
00:25:37,706 --> 00:25:39,586
Speaker 1: games that we're gonna kind of point to and look

509
00:25:39,586 --> 00:25:42,386
Speaker 1: at all year long, and maybe even arm wrestler who's

510
00:25:42,386 --> 00:25:43,626
Speaker 1: going to get to take that trip and be the

511
00:25:43,626 --> 00:25:46,706
Speaker 1: game rep Very cool. I'm glad you bring up soccer

512
00:25:46,706 --> 00:25:49,546
Speaker 1: because I don't think necessarily fans would say, hey, like

513
00:25:49,666 --> 00:25:53,066
Speaker 1: you know, for the stadium, like there's logistical aspects of

514
00:25:53,066 --> 00:25:55,786
Speaker 1: it that do impact the schedule on and how you

515
00:25:55,786 --> 00:26:04,786
Speaker 1: guys put things together locally and I should say domestically

516
00:26:04,866 --> 00:26:07,626
Speaker 1: is probably the better way describing it. How does the

517
00:26:07,666 --> 00:26:11,946
Speaker 1: ASA Base concert in a random city affect your schedule?

518
00:26:11,986 --> 00:26:14,306
Speaker 1: And if it's not ASA Base, you know, is there

519
00:26:14,546 --> 00:26:16,706
Speaker 1: you know with concerts and fans going back? Now, like,

520
00:26:16,746 --> 00:26:19,026
Speaker 1: how does that affect logistically what you guys are trying

521
00:26:19,026 --> 00:26:22,106
Speaker 1: to accomplish. Yeah, look, other than me needing tickets to

522
00:26:22,106 --> 00:26:25,466
Speaker 1: the ASA Base show, Uh, it really, it's a stadium

523
00:26:25,506 --> 00:26:30,266
Speaker 1: block like any other. I mean, these stadiums we use them,

524
00:26:30,266 --> 00:26:32,906
Speaker 1: you know, ten times a year, so they are used

525
00:26:32,946 --> 00:26:36,386
Speaker 1: for other events and depending on the venue, depending on

526
00:26:36,786 --> 00:26:40,106
Speaker 1: the business relationships. You know, some of our teams own

527
00:26:40,146 --> 00:26:43,106
Speaker 1: their stadiums, in which case they can clear them out

528
00:26:43,386 --> 00:26:46,146
Speaker 1: for the entire NFL season. Lambeau Fields a good example.

529
00:26:46,706 --> 00:26:50,226
Speaker 1: You very very very rarely find anything going on in

530
00:26:50,346 --> 00:26:54,626
Speaker 1: Lambeau from August to January. The packers own that building,

531
00:26:54,666 --> 00:26:57,466
Speaker 1: built that building, and they control that building, and they

532
00:26:57,546 --> 00:27:01,346
Speaker 1: will very rarely ask for anything in their building that

533
00:27:01,426 --> 00:27:04,786
Speaker 1: might impact their football schedule. You know, just mathematically speaking,

534
00:27:04,786 --> 00:27:07,346
Speaker 1: if you have a you know, a stadium block for

535
00:27:07,586 --> 00:27:11,146
Speaker 1: a concert or a college football game, or a golf tournament,

536
00:27:11,346 --> 00:27:14,106
Speaker 1: or or NASCAR race or anything going on in your market.

537
00:27:14,546 --> 00:27:16,626
Speaker 1: You know, if you ask for a stadium block in

538
00:27:16,666 --> 00:27:19,626
Speaker 1: the first two weeks of the season, you have exponentially

539
00:27:19,626 --> 00:27:21,746
Speaker 1: increased the likelihood that you're gonna start the season with

540
00:27:21,786 --> 00:27:24,506
Speaker 1: two straight road games. And no team would volunteer for that,

541
00:27:24,626 --> 00:27:27,186
Speaker 1: No coach would volunteer for that. That being said, four

542
00:27:27,306 --> 00:27:28,866
Speaker 1: the five teams that opened to a way to start

543
00:27:28,986 --> 00:27:31,826
Speaker 1: last season one both games. So you never know. But

544
00:27:32,186 --> 00:27:35,346
Speaker 1: from a stadium availability standpoint, every club's got an opportunity

545
00:27:35,386 --> 00:27:37,546
Speaker 1: to come to the league office and say, look, we've

546
00:27:37,586 --> 00:27:40,626
Speaker 1: got this opportunity in our building. We understand fully we

547
00:27:40,826 --> 00:27:42,866
Speaker 1: can't book it for sure, we don't know until the

548
00:27:42,866 --> 00:27:45,906
Speaker 1: schedule comes out mid May. But all things being equal,

549
00:27:45,946 --> 00:27:48,666
Speaker 1: as you search for the magical, mythical perfect schedule, the

550
00:27:48,666 --> 00:27:50,266
Speaker 1: one that has us on the road in week seven,

551
00:27:50,346 --> 00:27:53,146
Speaker 1: so we can accommodate this Elton John or Lady Gaga concert,

552
00:27:53,586 --> 00:27:55,306
Speaker 1: would be good for our market, would be good for

553
00:27:55,306 --> 00:27:58,066
Speaker 1: our fans, and and clearly, yes, there are revenue implications

554
00:27:58,106 --> 00:28:00,506
Speaker 1: for that as well. And you hinted at it, you know,

555
00:28:00,586 --> 00:28:03,946
Speaker 1: twenty and twenty one during the pandemic. Not that it's over,

556
00:28:04,066 --> 00:28:06,626
Speaker 1: but you know, so many of these shows was had

557
00:28:06,666 --> 00:28:09,146
Speaker 1: to cancel and they're all trying to come back now.

558
00:28:09,506 --> 00:28:13,346
Speaker 1: And so can all these venues take ten eleven you

559
00:28:13,346 --> 00:28:16,146
Speaker 1: know arena shows in the fall. They can't. They have

560
00:28:16,186 --> 00:28:18,706
Speaker 1: to put these football games in here somewhere. Uh. And

561
00:28:18,706 --> 00:28:21,066
Speaker 1: again it depends on the business relationships. Some of our

562
00:28:21,386 --> 00:28:25,786
Speaker 1: football teams are literally, you know, tenants. A good example

563
00:28:25,826 --> 00:28:28,106
Speaker 1: is in Indianapolis. You know, the Colts are a tenant

564
00:28:28,106 --> 00:28:31,346
Speaker 1: in that building and there are other events going on

565
00:28:31,466 --> 00:28:33,666
Speaker 1: in that building all year long. And we have to

566
00:28:33,706 --> 00:28:36,826
Speaker 1: be strategic about when the Cults are gonna play their

567
00:28:36,906 --> 00:28:38,906
Speaker 1: road games and when they're gonna play their primetime games.

568
00:28:38,906 --> 00:28:41,506
Speaker 1: And sometimes the building might not be available on a Sunday,

569
00:28:41,546 --> 00:28:44,186
Speaker 1: but it's available on a Thursday. So wouldn't this be

570
00:28:44,226 --> 00:28:46,986
Speaker 1: a good opportunity for the Colts to host the TNF

571
00:28:47,066 --> 00:28:49,466
Speaker 1: game so that they don't have a three game road trip,

572
00:28:49,546 --> 00:28:51,426
Speaker 1: or a road after a road Monday, or an early

573
00:28:51,466 --> 00:28:53,626
Speaker 1: season by or any of the other things that coach

574
00:28:53,666 --> 00:28:56,346
Speaker 1: wreck might not like. So um, we work with all

575
00:28:56,386 --> 00:29:00,066
Speaker 1: thirty two individually. We talked to all thirty one thirty

576
00:29:00,146 --> 00:29:03,666
Speaker 1: of our stadium operators, and we try to accommodate where

577
00:29:03,706 --> 00:29:05,986
Speaker 1: we can, but you know, there's a line we really

578
00:29:06,026 --> 00:29:08,626
Speaker 1: can't cross. You know, all due respect to Lady Gaga,

579
00:29:08,666 --> 00:29:11,386
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that we should put out a suboptimal

580
00:29:11,466 --> 00:29:14,706
Speaker 1: NFL schedule simply because she wants to go to Carolina,

581
00:29:14,746 --> 00:29:17,386
Speaker 1: then Atlanta, then Tampa. Maybe we can work with Live

582
00:29:17,506 --> 00:29:19,146
Speaker 1: Nation or whoever it is and say, hey, if you

583
00:29:19,146 --> 00:29:22,466
Speaker 1: could just reroute and go Atlanta then Tampa then Carolina,

584
00:29:22,786 --> 00:29:24,546
Speaker 1: we can make a better schedule. You can still have

585
00:29:24,586 --> 00:29:26,666
Speaker 1: your tour dates. Those are the kind of things that

586
00:29:26,706 --> 00:29:29,346
Speaker 1: have to factor into this process while also working on

587
00:29:29,746 --> 00:29:32,986
Speaker 1: rest discrepancy and travel and by weeks and all the

588
00:29:32,986 --> 00:29:34,746
Speaker 1: other stuff that we have to worry about. We we

589
00:29:34,826 --> 00:29:37,106
Speaker 1: do our very best, but it's hard to tell every

590
00:29:37,106 --> 00:29:39,546
Speaker 1: single club, hey, whatever you need will block you. That's

591
00:29:39,586 --> 00:29:42,066
Speaker 1: just impractical. But if Bradley Cooper says, hey, I'm going

592
00:29:42,106 --> 00:29:45,066
Speaker 1: to perform with Lady Gaga on that particular just if

593
00:29:45,146 --> 00:29:48,186
Speaker 1: I wanted to get complete fan too, so you know,

594
00:29:48,466 --> 00:29:53,066
Speaker 1: we'll make sure that one it's it's accommodated. Gay um

595
00:29:53,146 --> 00:29:56,906
Speaker 1: uh is there? Uh? How do you how do you

596
00:29:56,906 --> 00:29:59,106
Speaker 1: take into consideration teams that are on the up swing.

597
00:29:59,186 --> 00:30:00,786
Speaker 1: Like I don't think people would have said, hey, Sincenadia

598
00:30:00,826 --> 00:30:02,946
Speaker 1: gonna be in the super Bowl. You know last year

599
00:30:03,066 --> 00:30:06,226
Speaker 1: that's exactly what we got. Is there sort of like

600
00:30:06,466 --> 00:30:10,306
Speaker 1: multiple football minds in the room going, hey, we should

601
00:30:10,346 --> 00:30:12,106
Speaker 1: keep our eye on this team. Maybe they could be

602
00:30:12,146 --> 00:30:15,106
Speaker 1: that surprise team this year. Yeah, we've tried to over

603
00:30:15,146 --> 00:30:18,626
Speaker 1: the years try to shift the focus of this whole

604
00:30:18,706 --> 00:30:23,506
Speaker 1: project from gut and feel and instinct and emotion and

605
00:30:23,586 --> 00:30:27,626
Speaker 1: more towards math and science and data and predictive analytics,

606
00:30:28,146 --> 00:30:32,426
Speaker 1: which one is right anybody's guests, But we've tried to

607
00:30:32,466 --> 00:30:36,466
Speaker 1: pay attention to the data sets that tell us here's

608
00:30:36,466 --> 00:30:39,746
Speaker 1: what you need to know. You know, Cincinnati last year

609
00:30:40,026 --> 00:30:42,186
Speaker 1: we thought they were going to be better. We did.

610
00:30:42,786 --> 00:30:44,066
Speaker 1: Did we think they were going to go to the

611
00:30:44,106 --> 00:30:47,666
Speaker 1: Super Bowl? We did not. You know, this year they've

612
00:30:47,706 --> 00:30:51,786
Speaker 1: earned it, right, So you've got to be wary of

613
00:30:51,906 --> 00:30:55,186
Speaker 1: overcompensating too far. We've had that in the past. You'll

614
00:30:55,226 --> 00:30:57,666
Speaker 1: remember the year where Jacksonville made a nice deep playoff

615
00:30:57,746 --> 00:31:00,826
Speaker 1: run and we're one third down conversion away from going

616
00:31:00,906 --> 00:31:03,426
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl up in New England. There we

617
00:31:03,466 --> 00:31:05,666
Speaker 1: had the year where I think it was Derek ander

618
00:31:05,786 --> 00:31:08,466
Speaker 1: Sen playing quarterback for the Browns and they threw together

619
00:31:08,506 --> 00:31:11,866
Speaker 1: a ten and sixth season, and you know, they're hot,

620
00:31:11,906 --> 00:31:15,146
Speaker 1: our fans care, they're buzzworthy. Now you've got social media,

621
00:31:15,266 --> 00:31:17,186
Speaker 1: so you see who they're tweeting about, you see who

622
00:31:17,226 --> 00:31:20,706
Speaker 1: they're following, you see who's got the Instagram pages. You know,

623
00:31:20,786 --> 00:31:24,146
Speaker 1: we are definitely trying to tap into what our fans

624
00:31:24,146 --> 00:31:27,146
Speaker 1: are telling us they care about. But that can be

625
00:31:27,186 --> 00:31:30,106
Speaker 1: fleeting and we have definitely been guilty in the past.

626
00:31:30,106 --> 00:31:33,786
Speaker 1: So maybe overcompensating for a team that was on the rise.

627
00:31:33,906 --> 00:31:36,986
Speaker 1: But we look at things like everybody else does. Percentage

628
00:31:36,986 --> 00:31:39,706
Speaker 1: of the salary cap that's available, you know, dead money

629
00:31:39,706 --> 00:31:42,146
Speaker 1: on the cap, percentage of the salary cap devoted to

630
00:31:42,146 --> 00:31:46,386
Speaker 1: the quarterback position records in the final weeks of the season. Mike,

631
00:31:46,506 --> 00:31:49,026
Speaker 1: you you rock man I And once again I did

632
00:31:49,026 --> 00:31:50,866
Speaker 1: not anticipate keeping you as long as we did, so

633
00:31:50,906 --> 00:31:53,226
Speaker 1: I do appreciate it. Thank you very much, because I

634
00:31:53,266 --> 00:31:55,786
Speaker 1: know it is busy for you. Um Mike, how many

635
00:31:55,786 --> 00:31:58,146
Speaker 1: games are locked in right now? Right now today on

636
00:31:58,186 --> 00:32:02,026
Speaker 1: April four, I would tell you we've probably got about

637
00:32:02,906 --> 00:32:05,626
Speaker 1: five or six locked in, and if not locked in,

638
00:32:06,346 --> 00:32:09,026
Speaker 1: maybe you've got, you know, some wiggle room between one

639
00:32:09,146 --> 00:32:11,626
Speaker 1: or two options. We might be rooting for one option,

640
00:32:11,946 --> 00:32:13,346
Speaker 1: or we might have our thumb on the scale to

641
00:32:13,426 --> 00:32:16,506
Speaker 1: try to, uh, you know, see one of those options land.

642
00:32:16,586 --> 00:32:20,386
Speaker 1: But the truth is, the solution space, while infinite, actually

643
00:32:20,386 --> 00:32:22,546
Speaker 1: shrinks really quickly as soon as we start locking in

644
00:32:22,586 --> 00:32:24,266
Speaker 1: a couple of things. So, you know, a guy like

645
00:32:24,306 --> 00:32:26,706
Speaker 1: Howard Kats has been doing this a long time, was

646
00:32:26,746 --> 00:32:28,826
Speaker 1: kind of used to telling us over the years. Put

647
00:32:28,866 --> 00:32:31,106
Speaker 1: this game in week four, put that game in week eight,

648
00:32:31,306 --> 00:32:32,826
Speaker 1: and I don't know, but I just feel like this

649
00:32:32,866 --> 00:32:35,786
Speaker 1: game belongs on Thanksgiving weekends. So put it in, and

650
00:32:35,786 --> 00:32:37,666
Speaker 1: we would put it in, and we'd go we'd make

651
00:32:37,706 --> 00:32:41,426
Speaker 1: the best possible schedule we could off of those suggestions.

652
00:32:41,706 --> 00:32:44,426
Speaker 1: Now as we've all begun to understand a little bit

653
00:32:44,426 --> 00:32:46,706
Speaker 1: better about the math and science behind the impact of

654
00:32:46,746 --> 00:32:49,786
Speaker 1: every one of those decisions, Howard would say something like, look,

655
00:32:49,826 --> 00:32:52,306
Speaker 1: I love the idea of Dallas Green Bay as a

656
00:32:52,346 --> 00:32:54,586
Speaker 1: Fox doubleheader kind of right in the middle of the

657
00:32:54,586 --> 00:32:57,386
Speaker 1: season nine, ten eleven. But if you've got to slide

658
00:32:57,386 --> 00:32:59,746
Speaker 1: it up or down, you know, I think we're better

659
00:32:59,746 --> 00:33:01,586
Speaker 1: off with that game a little earlier in the season,

660
00:33:01,626 --> 00:33:03,946
Speaker 1: like Week seven or eight, as opposed to later in

661
00:33:03,986 --> 00:33:06,746
Speaker 1: the season like Week fifteen or sixteen. Love the idea

662
00:33:06,746 --> 00:33:09,706
Speaker 1: of Cowboys Packers playing on a Sunday afternoon in the

663
00:33:09,746 --> 00:33:12,666
Speaker 1: snow in Lambeau with an NFC one seed at stake.

664
00:33:13,066 --> 00:33:15,226
Speaker 1: But the later in the season you go, the greater

665
00:33:15,346 --> 00:33:17,306
Speaker 1: your risk. What if one of those quarterbacks gets hurt.

666
00:33:17,346 --> 00:33:19,586
Speaker 1: What if somebody's clinched a playoff spot, what if somebody's

667
00:33:19,626 --> 00:33:22,546
Speaker 1: eliminated from the playoff spot. You want to get maximum

668
00:33:22,626 --> 00:33:25,306
Speaker 1: return on the asset that is Dallas Green Bay, And

669
00:33:25,346 --> 00:33:28,626
Speaker 1: the longer you go into the season, the riskier it

670
00:33:28,706 --> 00:33:32,106
Speaker 1: gets to maximize the return on that asset. So you know,

671
00:33:32,146 --> 00:33:34,466
Speaker 1: Howard would tell us, you know, I really like this

672
00:33:34,506 --> 00:33:36,146
Speaker 1: game here, but if you got to move it there,

673
00:33:36,186 --> 00:33:38,506
Speaker 1: or the computer thinks it's better here, we're there instead.

674
00:33:38,826 --> 00:33:41,226
Speaker 1: I'd be open to it. So as far as actually

675
00:33:41,226 --> 00:33:43,586
Speaker 1: locked in, no more than a handful. But there's a

676
00:33:43,586 --> 00:33:46,706
Speaker 1: few others that have some pretty restrictive guide rails on it. Mike,

677
00:33:46,746 --> 00:33:49,426
Speaker 1: we're knocking on the door here. What's uh where we

678
00:33:49,506 --> 00:33:51,746
Speaker 1: locked in on the schedule in terms of that opening

679
00:33:51,826 --> 00:33:54,666
Speaker 1: kickoff game. Yeah, the The truth is, we we lock

680
00:33:54,746 --> 00:33:57,586
Speaker 1: in a handful of games relatively early in the process.

681
00:33:57,906 --> 00:34:00,906
Speaker 1: Some of those end up staying from day one right

682
00:34:01,106 --> 00:34:03,466
Speaker 1: through all the way to schedule released day. Others get

683
00:34:03,746 --> 00:34:07,026
Speaker 1: moved around. You know, in previous years, Howard Katz has

684
00:34:07,066 --> 00:34:10,226
Speaker 1: been doing this a really long time kind of scheduling Czar,

685
00:34:10,586 --> 00:34:14,186
Speaker 1: and earlier in our journey together, Howard would say, you know,

686
00:34:14,306 --> 00:34:16,146
Speaker 1: I like this game for week six and that game

687
00:34:16,146 --> 00:34:18,346
Speaker 1: for week eight, and put this game in week thirteen

688
00:34:18,386 --> 00:34:20,226
Speaker 1: or whatever you do. Don't put this game in week one,

689
00:34:20,266 --> 00:34:22,386
Speaker 1: and make sure you put this game in December. And

690
00:34:22,426 --> 00:34:24,506
Speaker 1: we would usually end up locking those things in and

691
00:34:24,546 --> 00:34:27,146
Speaker 1: just trying to solve around them. But as we've learned

692
00:34:27,186 --> 00:34:29,346
Speaker 1: over the years, you know, one little change like that,

693
00:34:29,466 --> 00:34:33,106
Speaker 1: one little decision, one little game locked in or locked out,

694
00:34:33,506 --> 00:34:37,826
Speaker 1: could have an incredibly profound impact on the search strategy,

695
00:34:37,866 --> 00:34:39,866
Speaker 1: on the algorithm, on the heuristic, and you might end

696
00:34:39,986 --> 00:34:42,146
Speaker 1: up in a very different branch of the search tree

697
00:34:42,706 --> 00:34:46,226
Speaker 1: with you know what schedules you're considering just based on

698
00:34:46,266 --> 00:34:48,506
Speaker 1: that one decision, And that one decision at the time

699
00:34:48,586 --> 00:34:51,746
Speaker 1: might have felt right in your gut, but doesn't necessarily

700
00:34:51,826 --> 00:34:54,866
Speaker 1: subscribe to the Hey this is the mathematically optimal path

701
00:34:54,906 --> 00:34:57,746
Speaker 1: to go down. So to his credit, Howard's been a

702
00:34:57,786 --> 00:35:01,066
Speaker 1: lot more open minded in recent years about things like,

703
00:35:01,146 --> 00:35:03,906
Speaker 1: all right, let's not lock in that game for that week,

704
00:35:04,306 --> 00:35:06,226
Speaker 1: but let's make sure it's one of these two or three.

705
00:35:06,586 --> 00:35:08,666
Speaker 1: And kickoffs the great example. As you look at the

706
00:35:08,786 --> 00:35:13,346
Speaker 1: RAMS schedule, there's a lot of really good options for kickoff,

707
00:35:13,586 --> 00:35:16,306
Speaker 1: even you know, a month out, ten days out. We're

708
00:35:16,346 --> 00:35:19,146
Speaker 1: trying to thread the needle between kind of locking things

709
00:35:19,146 --> 00:35:20,986
Speaker 1: in and letting the computer know what we wanted to do,

710
00:35:21,066 --> 00:35:25,506
Speaker 1: but also leaving enough flexibility because changing the kickoff game

711
00:35:26,026 --> 00:35:30,666
Speaker 1: may somehow miraculously save Jacksonville or Houston or Carolina from

712
00:35:30,666 --> 00:35:32,986
Speaker 1: a three game road trip in December. So you never

713
00:35:33,026 --> 00:35:34,986
Speaker 1: know the impact of each one of these decisions. So

714
00:35:35,026 --> 00:35:38,026
Speaker 1: you want to leave the computer enough flexibility while still

715
00:35:38,106 --> 00:35:40,106
Speaker 1: hitting one of the targets that you set for yourself.

716
00:35:40,626 --> 00:35:43,026
Speaker 1: And as far as kickoff goes, you know, there's great

717
00:35:43,066 --> 00:35:46,826
Speaker 1: options there really are. San Francisco at the RAMS would

718
00:35:46,866 --> 00:35:49,866
Speaker 1: be a fantastic kickoff game. They played three really good

719
00:35:49,866 --> 00:35:53,026
Speaker 1: games last year, including the NFC Championship and having that

720
00:35:53,106 --> 00:35:55,146
Speaker 1: rematch in Week one. That's something we could point to

721
00:35:55,226 --> 00:35:57,586
Speaker 1: all summer long and say, can't wait for that one?

722
00:35:57,786 --> 00:36:00,586
Speaker 1: You know, that being said, a game like Rams Niners

723
00:36:01,146 --> 00:36:05,946
Speaker 1: may actually gain in compelling nous, if that's the right word,

724
00:36:06,266 --> 00:36:07,866
Speaker 1: if we save that one for later in the season,

725
00:36:07,946 --> 00:36:10,306
Speaker 1: because there's likely to be playoff implications when those two

726
00:36:10,346 --> 00:36:13,226
Speaker 1: teams play each other twice, And if I could wave

727
00:36:13,266 --> 00:36:15,146
Speaker 1: a magic one, I'd probably want to save both of

728
00:36:15,146 --> 00:36:18,066
Speaker 1: those games for the second half of the season, both

729
00:36:18,066 --> 00:36:21,306
Speaker 1: in national television windows. And I'm not sure Week one

730
00:36:22,026 --> 00:36:25,186
Speaker 1: is the right way to deploy that asset, so you

731
00:36:25,226 --> 00:36:27,906
Speaker 1: look for another option. The Rams host Denver this year,

732
00:36:28,426 --> 00:36:30,866
Speaker 1: you know, with Russell Wilson playing quarterback, never more interesting

733
00:36:30,906 --> 00:36:33,186
Speaker 1: than they're gonna be in Week one. I could certainly

734
00:36:33,186 --> 00:36:36,266
Speaker 1: see a lot of attention on the Week one game

735
00:36:36,786 --> 00:36:39,066
Speaker 1: if it is Denver at the Rams. Russell Wilson has

736
00:36:39,106 --> 00:36:42,346
Speaker 1: a long history against the Rams and playing against guys

737
00:36:42,346 --> 00:36:43,946
Speaker 1: like Aaron Donald. It would be fun to see him

738
00:36:43,986 --> 00:36:47,226
Speaker 1: running around in a different jersey, but playing the Rams.

739
00:36:47,506 --> 00:36:50,146
Speaker 1: Uh in there for kickoff. That being said, there may

740
00:36:50,186 --> 00:36:52,946
Speaker 1: be other ways to deploy that very first Russell Wilson game.

741
00:36:53,426 --> 00:36:55,666
Speaker 1: UH in a Denver Broncos uniform. I'm I'm sure that

742
00:36:55,706 --> 00:36:58,226
Speaker 1: Broncos fans would love to see that game at Mile High,

743
00:36:58,346 --> 00:37:01,306
Speaker 1: have that game in Denver. They do visit Seattle this year,

744
00:37:01,386 --> 00:37:04,506
Speaker 1: so we know Russell's going back to Seattle at some point,

745
00:37:04,546 --> 00:37:06,426
Speaker 1: and you know, along his story and a lot of

746
00:37:06,426 --> 00:37:08,346
Speaker 1: Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl ring, those fans are

747
00:37:08,346 --> 00:37:10,506
Speaker 1: gonna want to, you know, turn out and thank him

748
00:37:10,546 --> 00:37:12,746
Speaker 1: for that. That could be Week one, that could be

749
00:37:12,826 --> 00:37:15,626
Speaker 1: Week seven, that could be Week fourteen. Anytime you do it,

750
00:37:15,626 --> 00:37:17,626
Speaker 1: it's still gonna be a good story, you know, speaking

751
00:37:17,626 --> 00:37:20,226
Speaker 1: of good stories, Buffalo at the Rams in week number

752
00:37:20,226 --> 00:37:22,946
Speaker 1: one would be fun. Like we said, Aaron Donald's got

753
00:37:22,986 --> 00:37:25,826
Speaker 1: a lot of experience chasing Russell Wilson around. I'm not

754
00:37:25,826 --> 00:37:28,786
Speaker 1: sure he's chased Josh Sallen around him up, but I'd

755
00:37:28,786 --> 00:37:30,586
Speaker 1: watch that. That would be fun. And then, of course

756
00:37:30,586 --> 00:37:32,386
Speaker 1: you can never go wrong with Dallas. We did Dallas

757
00:37:32,386 --> 00:37:35,226
Speaker 1: at Tampa last year for kickoff. Dallas at the Rams

758
00:37:35,266 --> 00:37:37,946
Speaker 1: this year would have that same sort of four months

759
00:37:37,986 --> 00:37:41,466
Speaker 1: of excitement building once the schedule gets out to when

760
00:37:41,546 --> 00:37:44,066
Speaker 1: is the season finally going to start? So there's a

761
00:37:44,146 --> 00:37:46,826
Speaker 1: lot of really good options for kickoff a month out.

762
00:37:46,866 --> 00:37:49,386
Speaker 1: I'm not sure we're aligned yet a week out we

763
00:37:49,466 --> 00:37:52,826
Speaker 1: may not honestly be aligned. Knowing we have good options

764
00:37:53,266 --> 00:37:55,746
Speaker 1: helps us a lot because it enables us to go

765
00:37:55,786 --> 00:37:58,426
Speaker 1: down a lot of different paths, explore a lot of

766
00:37:58,426 --> 00:38:02,666
Speaker 1: different branches of the solution tree, and the best schedule

767
00:38:02,826 --> 00:38:05,506
Speaker 1: quote unquote overall for the league could end up with

768
00:38:05,546 --> 00:38:07,826
Speaker 1: any one of those four games on kickoff, and I

769
00:38:07,826 --> 00:38:10,306
Speaker 1: think we'd be happy with just about any one of them. Awesome,

770
00:38:10,466 --> 00:38:15,666
Speaker 1: Awesome he signed me up. So with all the poticial

771
00:38:15,746 --> 00:38:18,346
Speaker 1: matchups for the first week and Mike lay them out,

772
00:38:18,626 --> 00:38:20,666
Speaker 1: I mean I'm not alone, right like, this is gonna

773
00:38:20,666 --> 00:38:23,146
Speaker 1: be kind of a badass week number one. I mean,

774
00:38:23,186 --> 00:38:25,986
Speaker 1: I don't really see a bad option no matter which

775
00:38:25,986 --> 00:38:27,906
Speaker 1: way the league decides to go. But as soon as

776
00:38:27,946 --> 00:38:30,186
Speaker 1: the schedule is released, where do you have to go

777
00:38:30,226 --> 00:38:32,666
Speaker 1: to check it out? Nfl dot com. The full schedule

778
00:38:32,666 --> 00:38:35,226
Speaker 1: will be up there analysis I'm sure from plenty of

779
00:38:35,266 --> 00:38:37,826
Speaker 1: experts weighing in on not only the Week one matchups

780
00:38:37,826 --> 00:38:39,946
Speaker 1: but some of the ones down the road. But I

781
00:38:39,946 --> 00:38:42,386
Speaker 1: am so thankful that Mike was able to walk us

782
00:38:42,386 --> 00:38:44,666
Speaker 1: through some of the details that will affect the schedule

783
00:38:44,866 --> 00:38:48,066
Speaker 1: and really just his job personally. Now that we've gone through,

784
00:38:48,186 --> 00:38:51,826
Speaker 1: what the process is, what happens next? Well, I'm gonna

785
00:38:51,906 --> 00:38:54,586
Speaker 1: leave you with this last little clip from Charlotte Carry

786
00:38:54,626 --> 00:38:56,786
Speaker 1: and Mike North about how they spend each day from

787
00:38:56,866 --> 00:39:00,546
Speaker 1: January to May searching for the near perfect schedule to

788
00:39:00,626 --> 00:39:03,706
Speaker 1: present to Howard Kats and eventually getting the final approval

789
00:39:03,826 --> 00:39:07,426
Speaker 1: from Roger Goodell. Little hint here, they're not getting a

790
00:39:07,426 --> 00:39:09,626
Speaker 1: whole lot of sleeping. I'm Mike Camp, Thank you so

791
00:39:09,706 --> 00:39:14,906
Speaker 1: much for listening to this edition of nflis point Mike

792
00:39:14,946 --> 00:39:17,786
Speaker 1: and I meet, and our day really starts at eleven PM.

793
00:39:17,826 --> 00:39:19,906
Speaker 1: The night before Mike and I meet, all of the

794
00:39:20,186 --> 00:39:22,746
Speaker 1: solvers are off and running. We check in, We see

795
00:39:22,786 --> 00:39:25,266
Speaker 1: how things are going, see what's solving on each of

796
00:39:25,266 --> 00:39:27,986
Speaker 1: these clusters that we have. We have, you know, anywhere

797
00:39:28,026 --> 00:39:30,586
Speaker 1: from like three to five thousand different computers working on

798
00:39:30,586 --> 00:39:33,946
Speaker 1: this problem for the entire night. I generally go to

799
00:39:33,986 --> 00:39:36,066
Speaker 1: bed and Mike stays up and takes the nightshift and

800
00:39:36,106 --> 00:39:39,626
Speaker 1: basically babies. It's the computers we have, hopefully, uh you know,

801
00:39:39,706 --> 00:39:42,346
Speaker 1: anywhere between fifty and a hundred schedules that we're looking through.

802
00:39:42,466 --> 00:39:45,866
Speaker 1: Have to cipher through those, and I take generally the

803
00:39:46,186 --> 00:39:48,706
Speaker 1: sixth or eight best and send them to Howard and

804
00:39:48,786 --> 00:39:52,026
Speaker 1: Hans and the entire team. Oh nice, we got a

805
00:39:52,146 --> 00:39:57,826
Speaker 1: nice low score here at three with really good NBC schedule,

806
00:39:58,426 --> 00:40:02,346
Speaker 1: great Devil headers, I like those cross flexes, good ESPN,

807
00:40:02,546 --> 00:40:05,906
Speaker 1: really strong start on a good Saturday pool. This one

808
00:40:05,986 --> 00:40:09,666
Speaker 1: is definitely a candidate for a deeper dive. We'll put

809
00:40:09,666 --> 00:40:11,946
Speaker 1: this one through the analyzer, sent it around to Howard.

810
00:40:12,266 --> 00:40:14,666
Speaker 1: Hopefully we'll have a new leader today, and then once

811
00:40:14,706 --> 00:40:16,746
Speaker 1: we get into the meeting, we then do a deep

812
00:40:16,786 --> 00:40:19,186
Speaker 1: dive on the analysis unless we do like maybe a

813
00:40:19,226 --> 00:40:21,306
Speaker 1: Green Bay Mini or something like that. I did ask

814
00:40:21,346 --> 00:40:24,066
Speaker 1: researchs to send over a couple more numbers, and then

815
00:40:24,146 --> 00:40:26,706
Speaker 1: after those meetings regroup at eleven PM and do the

816
00:40:26,746 --> 00:40:30,026
Speaker 1: same thing over and over and over until we find

817
00:40:30,226 --> 00:40:37,426
Speaker 1: the mythical, magical perfect schedule. Monday night, we're finished. Um,

818
00:40:37,466 --> 00:40:43,506
Speaker 1: we've got a winner, presented to the commissioner this afternoon. Uh,

819
00:40:43,546 --> 00:40:47,706
Speaker 1: there she is, in all our glory, finally declared our

820
00:40:47,746 --> 00:40:51,426
Speaker 1: final schedule about eleven o'clock at night, presented to the

821
00:40:51,466 --> 00:40:55,546
Speaker 1: Commissioner on Monday, and uh, it's it's really good. Glad

822
00:40:55,546 --> 00:40:59,146
Speaker 1: it's over. We'll be calling the clubs tomorrow Tuesday, with

823
00:40:59,186 --> 00:41:04,546
Speaker 1: their schedules released to the world on Wednesday night at

824
00:41:04,546 --> 00:41:08,746
Speaker 1: a tea time for Friday morning and uh Monday we

825
00:41:08,786 --> 00:41:12,666
Speaker 1: start on the schedule, really looking forward to getting back

826
00:41:12,706 --> 00:41:15,826
Speaker 1: at it. Maybe get some sleep this weekend, certainly let

827
00:41:15,946 --> 00:41:18,346
Speaker 1: Charlotte get some sleep. That's it.