[BigHairedAristocrat]

Originally Posted by CultBrennan59

Then who makes up the schedule, Mr. Paintrain?

Originally Posted by Mattyk

SS can probably address this in more depth, but I assure you it's not Goodell.

I believe there is a committee that works on it.

SS used to work on the schedule. There are alot of posts in a thread earlier this year where he shares some insights, but here are some highlights:

http://http://www.thewarpath.net/red...tml#post909977

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

It's a beast of a job. Working on scheduling was one of my most demanding, yet satisfying jobs ever

Yeah ESPN will build out multiple scenarios/schedules. Taking into account various factors.

There is a lot of back and forth with ESPN and the league (and indirectly the other networks). For example, let's say the NFL tells NBC we want that Bucanneers vs. Falcons game in early October because ESPN working on renewing a deal with the cable affiliate in Tampa and we want to apply some pressure marketing and heavy advertising in October, then the NFL will come back to ESPN and say "that Ravens game you wanted in November, NBC wants that now in exchange for giving you the Tampa game."

Or Fox could say we've got no room on the schedule for a 1pm Dolphins game and Miami doesn't want it at 4pm because the Heat are already playing at home and traffic would be a mess, so the NFL puts them on the road that week and so on.

Ultimately, it's what the NFL wants to do. But there is a lot of back and forth negotiating.

There are also contractual obligations regarding prime time games. Some that are known, like max number of prime time games for each team. Others that are not as well known, such as geographic obligations.

From ESPN's end, there are no computer simulated scenarios. It's all people operated.

And yes, 100+ game seasons are insane. Tennis is particularly difficult.

At ESPN in particular, there are specific teams of people assigned to various sports as well as news and info.

So everybody will work on their own schedules and casually interact with other sport teams.

Then every Tuesday morning, we'd have a free for all meeting. Well not a free for all per se, but it can get intense. "I have to schedule an NBA doubleheader this Friday. But I have to put a NASCAR race on ESPN2 at 9pm. But PBA bought 2 hours of time for a bowling tournament. But I have to get 18 hours of tennis programming in this week and 55% has to be on ESPN or ESPN2. But we're expecting the NFL to make their announcement this Friday night so we have to be prepared to go all night with SportsCenter. And so on.

Lot of "fun" to work through all the scenarios.

In the thread, SS linked to this interesting article that goes into more detail. Its a really interesting read.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/20/sp...agewanted=all&