The Season with Peter Schrager: Hans Schroeder, EVP and Chief Operating Officer of NFL Media

Fresh off the biggest “Monday Night Football” game in years and in advance of the NFL’s first Black Friday game on Amazon, Peter welcomes Hans Schroeder, the EVP of NFL Media. Peter and Hans discuss the NFL’s bold expansion into new streaming platforms, the Black Friday game, as well as the NFL’s unique relationship with its broadcast partners, team owners, and fans. Lastly, Hans shares his personal story and how he went from investment banking in Australia to one of the most crucial jobs in sports and media.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
The Season with Peter Scheger is a production of the
NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. What's up, everybody, This is
Peter Schreger listening to the Season with Peter Schreger. I'm

(00:28):
currently at three forty five Park Avenue, which is the
official NFL league headquarters. I'm joined by Aaron Wang Kaufman
and Jason English, our folks from the iHeartMedia team, because
we're gonna do an in studio, in person interview with
Hans Schroeder, who is the executive vice president of Media Distribution.

(00:48):
Hans leads a lot of the league's overall media strategy
and we've been talking for months and I thought, with
what is an incredible TV sports primarily NFL Weekend ahead,
Hans would be a great guest to have on a
little different than a coach or a GM or a
celebrity like we usually have. Here's one of the decision
makers at the league. We're gonna have Hans on in

(01:10):
a second. In the meantime, we are currently in a
conference room overlooking New York City and Aaron, is this
your first time in the league headquarters. Do you feel
like you've got to be on your P's and Q's here.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yeah, it's my first time here. I don't know if
I'm allowed to say this, but I was told ahead
of time I couldn't wear sneakers, so I had to
be a little more dressed up. That's my rual setup.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
Yeah, we're a bright white sneakers. Is it because I'm
celebrity talent? Is that what it is?

Speaker 3 (01:37):
Only one of us has been on Celebrity Jefpardy that's it?

Speaker 1 (01:39):
Yeah, exactly. No, I'm excited to be here, and it's
been a cool couple hours that we have been here,
and We've got a chance to speak with a lot
of folks, both off the record and then friends that
I've had, And I think the NFL is in a
really good place right now, and I'm excited for this week.
We're gonna have Hans on in a second to discuss
primarily the creation of this Amazon Black Friday game between

(02:01):
the Jets and the Dolphins and how it came to be.
But I'd be lying Aaron if I'm not still a
little bit hungover from what we saw last night on
ESPN and ABC Super Bowl rematch. And I've got my
concerns about them. Kansas City chiefs. This is my I
come in here and I come here with a hat

(02:21):
in hand, and I say I have been so don't
worry about it. They'll figure it out. Don't worry about it.
They'll figure it out. And yes, they are seven and
three and they're still gonna win the AFC West. And
don't worry about They have twenty six drops, the most
drops in the league. They have not scored a point
in the second half since October twenty second. They also

(02:43):
had Justin Watson as their leading target man last night.
These are not hey, we're figuring it out in September
concerns or don't worry about it, things will figure themselves
out concerns. These are legitimately do we have the players
concerns and they might not have the weapons. And Kelsey
had a couple bad drops, a fumble and a drop
last night. Furthermore, Kelsey was triple teams. So at some

(03:06):
point Tony needs to step up. At some point Watson
needs to step up. And I give my homes credit.
I was very, very keen and watching what he had
to say after the game, and he would not to
a man, he would not throw those guys under the bus.
Valdez Scanting drops what would have been the game winning touchdown.
It's right in his hands, he drops it, and they
gave Mahomes thirty opportunity and he's like, I underthrow him.

(03:28):
It wasn't a great pass. I'm curious to see what
the week is like in Kansas City because I don't
know if you know, Patrick Mahomes has never played in
a playoff game on the road beside Super Bowls. Ever,
right now, if the playoffs were tomorrow, the Ravens would
be the one seed and the Chiefs would have to
go on the road and they would have to figure
it out that first round and then probably be home

(03:50):
and then have to go wherever that AFC Championship game has.
Maybe this is much ado about nothing, but I was
a little concerned watching them and the week after week
after week story that they cannot get their passing game going.
It's amazing that the Kansas City Chiefs, who I thought
last year, you know, Tyreek's not there, and they answered
every single question and sky Moore stepped up and Valdez

(04:11):
Scantling stepped up, and Juju stepped up that this year
it hasn't happened. It hasn't happened. Meanwhile, a week ago
we did a funeral on this podcast for the Buffalo
Bills after their loss and how they went down to
the Denver Broncos. Sure enough, a week later, Aaron Bills
are right back in this thing. They're the seventh seed
or the eighth seed right now. But Ken Dorsey's offense

(04:33):
put up thirty two points. They were lights out against
the Jets, and suddenly you look at the Bills and
you're like, all right, we're back on the Bills. This
is how it goes. You're our resident Bills fan, how
you feeling about your Buffalo Boys?

Speaker 3 (04:44):
Good?

Speaker 2 (04:44):
I mean so Also, not Dorsey's offense. It was breat
Joe Brady's offense that did it. And I mean for
them to put up that game. Still some issues, like
in the beginning, you know, it was a couple of
field goals and it was like, look if they if
they can only convert in the red zone with field goals,
they're still not going to get through this. Goneloa up
a schedule. But the Shakir touchdown, like seeing him cut

(05:07):
through the field and and just score on something he
shouldn't off, Oh my god. And Kinkaid not a blocker.
He's he is a catching, receiving tight end. And for
him to be doing those blocks on a day that
Gabe Davis had I think zero targets Steph Diggs like
wasn't a huge Yeah, yeah, I know, watching him put

(05:29):
his arms out because he went to go get that. Yeah,
that was. That was a really nice game to watch.
And I know the Jets have their issues on offense,
but their defense is still incredible. And for the Bills
to put up a game like that, and look, there
was I forget which game it was, maybe it was
two weeks ago or something where Josh Allen threw a
touchdown and just like straight faced, you know, he he

(05:53):
ran up, got the ball and like went off to
the sideline. This Sunday, that Shakir touchdown, Josh Allen was
like bursting with energy.

Speaker 1 (06:02):
Such joy too. The Ty Johnson touchdown, Yeah, running back
and then he jumps into the stands. I said this, like,
if Joe Brady isn't Bill Walsh or whatever you expect
him to be, or McVeigh or whoever it is, at
the very least, it felt like there was a joy
in that building and there was an excitement and it
was like a you could feel the sigh of relief that,
oh my god, we still have a chance. And they do.
So Buffalo is right back in this thing. The Ravens,

(06:23):
they win, they get hurt, they lose Andrews, but they're
still rolling. But Cincinnati, that was a deafening blow. That sucked.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
That's that Thursday night was.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
We wiped it up. Also like on on Good Morning
Football here like finally a good Thursday night game. Finally
you get Bengals Ravens. But to lose Mark Andrews, to
lose Joe Burrow, Lamar goes to the Odell goes down
on the shoulder. That was a brutal one for that one,
all right. One of the reasons everyone loves our back
and forth in our banter, Aaron, is that we don't

(06:55):
just talk football. We talk a lot of things. I
saw a show you need to seek. It's called Here
We Are. It is a Sondheim mu sick goal slash
show that is running for the next couple of months
over at the Shed, which is on the West side
basically by Hudson Yards, in a really cool space. And

(07:18):
it's Bobby Cannavale, David Hyde Pierce, this woman MICHAELA Diamond
who's got an insane voice. We talk a lot about theater,
you and me. This is the only podcast that does
a crossover of NFL football and theater talk. And Jason,
I know your daughter's a thespian as well, and you
love the arts. This show was tremendous.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
It also features possibly my favorite vocalist on Broadway right now,
Amber Gray okay who originated Persephone in Hadestown most recently,
and I I remember hearing the recording of her on
Great Comment and just being like this, this woman's voice
is unreal. I mean, we've had that conversation too, like

(08:00):
favorite vocalists, and Amber Gray is like, she's.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
On the list. I cannot this show. So it's not
on Broadway, so it's kind of cool. It's got a cool,
funky feel to it. It wasn't like the old Broadway
blue hair crowd. I went in and I felt like
I was like at a cool event. So Sondheim wrote
this musical or started putting the piece together. I'm gonna
probably watch the story. I was reading up on it afterwards.
And he's working with these two other guys and he
passes away it's the last work of Sondheim, and it

(08:24):
had never been put together as a show. And these
guys used the impetus of two films, two seventies films
that are absurdists or surrealist films, and they used that
inspiration with the Sondheim and they put together this show.
If you're in New York, I'm telling you see it.
It's funny as hell. It's got a bigger message, obviously,
and the performances are out of this world. And I've

(08:45):
gotten to know Connavali a little bit, so we're texting
and he's talking to me whatever. He's like, calm, you're
gonna love it. I did not expect him in this role.
He's fantastic. And if you're a Bobby kint of Valley fan, like,
he's one of the greatest actors, and he's a great dude,
and he lives in Brooklyn and he's all the stuff
that I love. He's fantastic in this And guess who
I'm sitting next to as I get there with my wife,
say next to one of my favorite actresses of all time.

(09:06):
And I did have the courage to say a single
word because I was just being a polite gentleman. Laura
Lenni is sitting next to me. Wow, you didn't see
that coming. No, And Laura Lennie is cackling, laughing, loving
the show. And then it turns out not only was
Laura Lennie there, but like several other luminaries of this
is like one of those deals where it's like a
New York thing right now to go see this show.
So here we are. I think it's on for a

(09:26):
couple of months.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
If you're in until January twenty first.

Speaker 1 (09:29):
I cannot suggest it enough. Go see it at the Shed.
I'm the only podcaster slash morning show host who not
only will talk to you about Marquez Valdez Scantling's drops,
but in the same monologue we'll talk about MICHAELA Diamond
and her work in Parade and why she's so fantastic
in this show.

Speaker 2 (09:48):
I actually thought you were about to talk about. On Saturday,
we went and saw Here Lies Love on Broadway.

Speaker 1 (09:52):
That that David Byrne one.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yes, it closes on November twenty sixth. It was great.
I was just telling Jason beforehand it is very non
traditional and that there is a portion of the audience
on the floor with stages around you and it's like
a club. It means David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim
and there's that involved. Okay, and then the stages on

(10:15):
the floor move and rotate, so as you're there, the
show is going on and there are attendance with like
air traffic controller wands moving you, saying like, okay, you
got to start moving this way because this stage is
going to start rotating here and now all of you
can get up here, and then you're dancing a lot.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
It was.

Speaker 2 (10:31):
It was a very like set wise, one of the
most interesting shows I've seen. It's it's all about Emelda Marcos.
So a story that in many ways is.

Speaker 1 (10:42):
All I know about Amelda Marcos is that she stole
the shoes?

Speaker 2 (10:45):
Right?

Speaker 3 (10:46):
Is that?

Speaker 1 (10:46):
Is that covered in this thing? Does she have an
amazing story? All I know is she stole shoes in
the country corner and she had stolen all these shoes.

Speaker 2 (10:54):
It would be too long to get into for the podcast,
but a very complicated history. And the show is great,
and I think only five more days of shows. So
if you hear this beforehand and you can get it
to see it. If not, the cast album is on
streaming everywhere and everything. So that was a great one too,
And I thought you were about to say that you
had just seen that too. Another here something something.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
Yeah, awesome. Our podcast guest is Great Hans is a
longtime NFL employee who has worked in a lot of
different parts of the organization. And I just think he's
got a great perspective and he's got a great way
about him, and he's pretty proud about what they're going
to show us on Amazon on Friday. He was one
of the many minds who came together and really urged
to make this thing happen. I think it is pretty

(11:37):
different Friday NFL football. I don't have a long memory
of any games on Fridays, and especially on the holiday
weekend sandwich between the Thursday slate which has three games,
the Sunday slate, and of course the Monday slate. With
no further ado, let's get to our guest. He's the
NFL's executive vice president of Media Distribution. He leads the

(11:58):
league's overall media strategy and negotiations for live game rights,
manages the league's broadcast department, and he oversees the league's
owned and operated media assets, which are NFL Network, NFL Digital,
NFL Films, and he's also one of the architects and
brains behind Friday's Black Friday Amazon game. Hans Schroder Welcome

(12:19):
to the season with Peter Schrager.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
Thanks, Peter, It's good to be here. Long time since
I've seen you. No hoodie today, So, you know, a
little disappointed in that.

Speaker 1 (12:27):
You know, we do Good Morning Football in a studio
in New York, and we do it for the three
other hosts, and we kind of we don't realize that
people are actually watching. So w and I wear a
crumpled up hoodie and I'm sitting there with a zipper on.
I don't really think that the NFL League OFLFIC is
actually watching.

Speaker 3 (12:41):
I like it. You know, we're trying to get younger
with our fans or whatever. I like the hoodie. It
reminds me of that. So it's it.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
Let's last night's Monday night football game. We're filming. We're
recording this on Tuesday morning. Like I said this, I
don't work for ESPN. It felt big. The broadcast felt big.
Two different sideline reporters, there were four K cameras, There
was slow mo, there was drones, there was Maning cast,
it felt like a Super Bowl pre Did you get
that feeling watching the game as well, that like, okay,

(13:09):
the big games, we do have a tendency to put
the way to the league behind it, and these networks
know that, hey, we're gonna put the best product forward.

Speaker 3 (13:16):
Yeah. Look, I think every year we go into the
scheduling process and you know, there's a number of great matchups,
you know, a number of great stories we're trying to
make sure we get surfaced, but there's always a handful
of games that really rise to the top. And a
Super Bowl rematch, I think I read somewhere, you know,
surprisingly it's only happened like nine or ten times. Nine
times nine times, I think I was right. So you know,

(13:38):
we knew this was going to be a key one.
And you know, the interesting things that we've done over
the last couple of years with our partners all doing
such a great job, you know, and especially on the
Disney side, continuing to build Monday Night Football again, to
use the simulcast and the reach on ABC to add
the Manning cast. That's been great for us because now
we really have, you know, homes for these great games

(14:01):
across any of our packages, and we know whoever gets
that game will do an unbelievable job building it, promoting it,
making it feel like you said, like it's it's different.
Also should and so you know, we we allow a
lot more flexibility in the scheduling process because those games
can go to a number of outlets. This year, the
schedules we really liked ended up showing this Philly Casey

(14:22):
rematch on Monday Night Football, and so we loved it
and and ESPN said, you know, look, if you give
it to us, well we'll blow the doors out. And
they did. And you know it was texting with Burt
Magnus last night at ESPN from the game from the field,
he said, this feels like a super Bowl. It feels
really really big. You know, Joe and Troy are awesome.
The environment case is an environment. It's just an awesome

(14:44):
place to see a game, and then the game and
all these elements and the drama and sort of the
back and forth, like you know, so, yeah, what a way,
you know, midway through the season, maybe a little bit beyond,
to have this teenpole and then a tempole that kicks
into what is shaping up to be an awesome weekend
of football over Thanksgiving. Let's go all throughout the weekend.
You can just be incredible.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
All the networks are like diving in full bore on
this and you start off. I'll be shameless and say,
we start off a good morning football on Thursday morning
on this day.

Speaker 3 (15:14):
We're starting off.

Speaker 1 (15:16):
Yeah, that's it, We're just setting the table. There we go,
and then Fox has their whole pre can.

Speaker 3 (15:20):
Sure you just got to hang with Kyle for way
too long.

Speaker 1 (15:23):
Three hours too many. No, Kyle has been great. We
always it's like Kyle's a family member now because we can.

Speaker 3 (15:28):
Just for one second, I have to say this, and
you know, Jamie's great, Jason's great, Kyle is great, But
really you're the puzzle I wanted to solve Like that.
That's the line he went with. I hope you guys
pulled him aside. I mean, he was so proud of himself.

Speaker 1 (15:46):
So if you're not, if you're not, okay. So Kyle
goes on Wheel of Fortune. Vana White is there. I
think Vana White is miked up. I don't think I've
ever heard Vana White really speak on Wheel of Fortune.
Kyle takes his shot and he says, my wife is here,
so he like catches at that and says, Vanna, you're
my boyhood crush and you were the puzzle, the puzzle
I always wanted to solve, and say Jack was hilarious.
Jack's like, really that's the line, and Kyle's like, I

(16:08):
don't know, just came to me. You know, Kyle, I
know Kyle. He had written that line. He flew seven
hours to California, he practiced it in the mirror sixteen times.
He went out there script and it It actually was
pretty good line.

Speaker 3 (16:20):
It was a really good A guy that likes to
act like SPACCOLEI usually has his own work done.

Speaker 1 (16:24):
He's rolling ahead, but that is it. He does act
like Spaccoley, but he has that hours and days of
planning going into that line.

Speaker 3 (16:30):
But you know what's good. It was I appreciate his
topical too, like you know, the puzzle we wanted to
solve this year. We can talk a little bit about
Black Friday, and that's been a puzzle of ours too,
like we roll into it or whatever. But I had to.
I couldn't use this opportunity and not sort of give
And it was funny, laughing so hard at home.

Speaker 1 (16:45):
He's the best and in the next morning, Uh, you know,
I'm flipping through the New York Posts and I see
an article since NFL Analyst or whatever they titled him,
tell Spann ol White, she is the puzzle. I'm like, yes,
we made the post, and for all the right reasons, Kyle, But.

Speaker 3 (16:59):
But you know the other thing. We can't before we
move on, can't get too far away. He misses the anchor.

Speaker 1 (17:03):
Man, I know he misses the answer man like.

Speaker 3 (17:06):
That still on him. I wanted to there, so.

Speaker 1 (17:09):
I did Celebrity Jeopardy a few weeks early. I did, and.

Speaker 3 (17:12):
See this, Maybe I should have done my homework.

Speaker 1 (17:15):
I don't live in I don't live in Westchester. You guys,
there's a little like circuit of the guys who outside
of it where I am. I did valiantly. I came
in second place. I got Final Jeopardy right. It was awesome.
I lost to Mira Sorvina, who is a Harvard grad
MENSA member apparently didn't learn that until Affirst did great.
But I got the daily doubles wrong, and Kyle the

(17:36):
next day was very complimentary. I made a lot of
money for charity. We had a blast. Was good, but
he kept on digging me a little bit on these
daily doubles, these two questions. One of them was, uh,
this author wrote Portnoy's complaint, would you know that who
is put you on the spot, Philip Roth, I didn't.
I didn't, I didn't have it. I didn't get it. Great, fine, wrong.
Kyle gets an Anchorman question, a movie quote, which is

(17:58):
so wheelhouse for him.

Speaker 3 (17:59):
There, sure, what are the ones from the cannon?

Speaker 1 (18:02):
And like that is like you know, Urban Outfitters has
shirts with that boy that escalated quick and he got
it wrong.

Speaker 3 (18:09):
So it's tough.

Speaker 1 (18:10):
One hundred and sixty nine thousand dollars for charity Kyle
raised for Make a Wish very good. Got the question wrong.

Speaker 3 (18:16):
Well, you guys are both were awesome for doing that.
We love and a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 (18:20):
So it was good.

Speaker 3 (18:21):
It was fun to watch. So back to thanks Kith.

Speaker 1 (18:23):
So we'll do Good Morning Football. Then the pregame shows.
Fox is actually sending their pregame show to New York,
which I think is cool. So you're gonna have the
whole Fox pregame show in New York City live from
the parade. And then we kick off and it's Fox
in Detroit. Lions versus Packers. Then we have CBS Commanders
versus Cowboys, and then you have the nightcap with Seahawks
versus forty nine Ers. I thought essentially all three of

(18:45):
those games have like pretty major musical acts at halftime.
So it's not just football. We love our football. I
feel like we're making this into broadening the horizons. I
don't know if that's and it's not brand new that
we've done halftime acts, but I don't think I've remembered
three halftime acts during the Thanksgiving games. Maybe one.

Speaker 3 (19:03):
Look, it's such a unique day, and it's unique in ways,
and you know, taking a step back, you look at
the Thanksgiving weekend and for years across this country it's
been about friends, family, and football, and you know, that's
just increased each of those variables. It's really sort of
almost you know, as important as the December holidays. To

(19:24):
many people in this country. It's a chance to get together,
make families get together, get together for an extended period
of time, and really enjoy being together, which I think
post pandemic, there's an element there that I think people
are truly appreciating even more. And then what we're excited
about is a football aspect that's now layering on top
of that. And it's not just us, it's at all
levels of football, which we love and celebrate. You got

(19:45):
high school still happening, you have college God, it's going
to be a huge one. An arbor at nowt on Saturday,
which is just going to be incredible, right, But you know,
you look at what it's become from the NFL, where
the tradition's always been there in Detroit and in Dallas
and through the weekend, but it's just continued to grow.
I mean last year what did Giants Cowboys did forty
two and.

Speaker 1 (20:05):
Most regular season game and his history.

Speaker 3 (20:08):
And history and so for us, you know, we just
think we can can build on it and fill out
the weekend. And you know, before we even get to
Black Friday, you just look at the Sunday slate that
we've had. You have Pittsburgh Cincinnati anchoring that one o'clock
window in a pretty meaningful way.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
Denver Cleveland's a big game.

Speaker 3 (20:26):
Denver Cleveland that was a big I mean, there's a
lot of great games throughout sprinkled throughout the day, but
just you know, you look at some of those games
that are really and Jacksonville Houston. Let's talk about the CJ.
Stroud story for a second. Man, Like, and I think
they beat Jacksonville the first two day, so like that
game's going to be fast, game is going to be intense.
And it rolls into then you know, a couple of
good late afternoon games, but really Buffalo and Philly. You know,

(20:47):
Buffalo like coming coming back off the heels of the
wind on Sunday, and really, you know, a stretch of
great for twenty five games we have ahead of us
for the next little bit, rolling into Baltimore and.

Speaker 1 (20:57):
Charge that Baltimore Chargers game, which Chargers kind of feeling
like he's on the brink a little bit. Raven's finally
the one seed.

Speaker 3 (21:02):
So and then you end up with the NFC North,
which you know, the Bears. Know I've had up and
down a lot of injuries with fields, but you end
up with a really strong Black and Blue division. The
great story with the Dobs. Dobbs in Minnesota, by the way,
who should have gone to Princeton played football talk, Yeah,
last minute switched to Tennessee. So you know, okay, it
happened to occasionally, you know, but you know, but uh

(21:26):
so it's great. So like that weekend of all these games,
all this football is awesome, So how can we make
it better? Yeah? How can we make it bigger? Well?

Speaker 1 (21:32):
I remember what was It was the hardball ball the
first time before the super Bowl. That was the first
Thanksgiving night game and I was in that building. I
covered it as a reporter going into Baltimore and it
was same thing, and that was a major deal, Like
we're going to do football on Thanksgiving evening. And then
that becomes now a second nature. Everyone just assumes that
where did the Amazon Black Friday idea come to be?
And has this been brewing for a while or was

(21:55):
this Amazon coming to the table to you being like, hey,
give us the NFL, we'll also put together something and
we'll kind of we're the face of commerce. Let's put
together a Black Friday game.

Speaker 3 (22:04):
Yeah. You know, as we went into the last cycle
of deals, so sometime probably early in twenty twenty, we
did a lot of work starting to look at a
number of different things. What an expanded season could look like,
you know, what type of game inventory we'd want to
take back from our partners, what new windows we could build,
how do we extend Thursday Night as an example and

(22:26):
build that into a bigger, broader window. And in midst
of the sort of noodling, the idea of, hey, should
we look at Black Friday as a day? You know,
it's become again such a a ten pole day on
the calendar, and it's coming off now a day that
the NFL just dominates on the Thursday of Thanksgiving. Is
there an opportunity to feel that college is still so

(22:46):
strong on Saturday? You got a bunch of high school
Friday Night, you have some college Friday Night, can college
Friday throughout the day, but you know, college is almost
more more of their bigger games to Saturday, and some
of those traditional rivalries aren't on Black Friday quite as much.
There's an up Hey, is that something we should look at?
And then we got into the deal process us We said, hey,

(23:08):
you know, we're sort of seeing and having these conversations
with everybody across the table, and we started talking to Amazon,
who had been our partner on the tricast and been
part of Thursday Night, but the not the primary distributor.
And he started saying, well, Amazon, okay, we got the
biggest commerce platform in the entire world. Black Friday that's
their biggest day of the entire year. You know, these

(23:31):
things seem like they fit pretty well together. And so
in the process of that, I think, you know, a
lot of conversations all the way up to the top
sides of both organizations, but I think a lot of
momentum really started to build around there, and Hey, this
is something that I think could be really transformational for
both sides, and not just about adding another game window,

(23:52):
but also how we do something unique. How we create
a new window, a new ten poll, how do we
have a bigger impact, How do we bring more elements in,
How do we change the game experience a little bit
more than what a typical game is. How do we
have a bigger impact you know on Thursday night for
good and otherwise? And so those elements all sort of
wrapped in and I think said hey, and Amazon came

(24:13):
to said, hey, we really want to do this too,
and we think we can make it bigger and we
think we can deliver on all those all those objectives,
and so it became part of the deal and sort
of part of the deal that we said, hey, you're one.
We have enough to get out of the box with.
We have enough to focus on the fair way and
deliver against and you know, then we got through the

(24:33):
end of last year, and we got through around this
time last year and said, hey, you know, this looks
like this idea still resonates, still thinks it makes sense.
When we saw the results of the Cowboys, Giants and
strong leadership across all three games, quite frankly and said,
you know, we got to the off season, this is
the time. You know, we feel really good about the
awesome start Amazon had last year. This is a way

(24:54):
to sort of really take that and extend it and
build on it. And so pretty quickly into the off
season realized this is going to be what we add
to it. And so we're excited and we're excited and divisional,
you know, it's interesting with the games, especially on Thursday
and into Friday. They're all interesting too because they're all
divisional games, right, and those divisional teams know each other,
you know, they've scouted each other. You know, in short weeks,

(25:15):
you tend to get some of the best games from
those divisional sides that sort of know each other a
little bit better, a little bit more intimately than maybe
two other teams that are on the calendar.

Speaker 1 (25:24):
When you guys agree to do the Amazon Black Friday
game in the second year of Amazon, you go to
these league meetings and the schedule releases coming in May,
and the league meetings are usually in March. I know,
there's behind closed doors and there's also several zooms and calls,
and all different networks will say, hey, if possible, here's
our ranking system, here are the games we want, if
there's any way, and you guys kind of work with

(25:45):
the networks and say, well, we're going to give ESPN
that Monday night game, but then Fox you're gonna get
Eagles forty nine ers and CBS, don't worry, you're gonna
get this awesome you know, Bill's Eagles game. You spread
to love a little bit.

Speaker 3 (25:56):
Where does the.

Speaker 1 (25:57):
Friday Black Amazon on the Thanksgiving Day game and NFL
kickoff and these huge Sunday night Where was that in
kind of the pecking order? And was that their first
pick of like, hey, that's our biggest game.

Speaker 3 (26:07):
Yeah, look, I think you're absolutely right. We go to
all partners and you know, one of the data points
that's really helpful for us is to get our partner's
perspectives on how they view the top games of the year,
the games that may matter the most to them. Sometimes
it's not always the most marquee game. Sometimes they just
like a game better, they feel it fits better for
their network, their markets, their history, you know, if they've

(26:30):
covered that game the past couple of years, where they
just want it right. And so clearly, you know, we
thought about Black Friday in a way that was very
much at the top of the list that it's a
new window, it's a window we want to make sure
we put our best foot forward and we schedule a
game that we think is going to be a very
strong matchup. Look, you never know, we you know, fortunately,

(26:52):
as of this point in the year, we haven't flexed
the game in any of our packages yet and so
maybe the crystal ball this year is a little bit
better than than even other years where Mike North and
Howard and Annie and Charlotte, the scheduling team, you know
what they do for five months, you know, really from
January through mid May of NonStop, six sometimes seven days
a week, going to all the permutations to schedule. They

(27:14):
work pretty hard to make that crystal ball shine pretty bright.
And this year, you know, it's it's proven up and
we've had great stories, We've had some things we couldn't predict,
and and so you never know exactly how the matchup's
going to play out like you think it is. Certainly
this year when we went into the year, we're thinking, hey,
this is the Jets with Aaron Rodgers and coming in
against the Miami. That's going to be explained it. Yeah,

(27:35):
and there's been some turnover, there's some changes, the Jets
have gone through some ups and downs, but you know,
are still in the playoff hunt, still fighting for it. Now,
gonna have a new quarterback this week. You know, you
get the Dolphins, you know, with a chance to sort
of continue to beat some teams that are maybe perceived
as a little bit stronger teams and better teams and
then maybe some of their wins that people would hold

(27:55):
up to. So you know, look at the NFL is
a week to week leagues. I don't know how much
but stock you put into all that. But the idea
is we still think it's a really good matchup and
you know, anchored and centered right around New York when
you know, retail capital maybe a whole world to play
in a day that's going to have a lot of
retail themes to it. There's a lot I think we
can do adjacent to that. So we're super excited about

(28:17):
you know what, the Dolphins coming to the Jets is
going to be on Friday, and you know, again, we
can only set up so much and then at some
points the game itself. But we're hopeful that it's going
to be a great one.

Speaker 1 (28:26):
I think it's pretty cool because a couple of years
ago they debuted the Nickelodeon game and that was a
huge success, and it was like, here's something that's a
little outside the box that you might not be typically
used to as an NFL fan, and oh wait, we
love it. This year the Falcons Jaguars on the Toy
Story broadcast, which a different audience, very well received. People

(28:46):
loved it. Now you have this Black Friday, They like,
is there a group here within your group of media
colleagues at the league office who are just constantly throwing
things at the wall saying, hey, what if we consider this?
What if we considered that? I feel like that's a
cool ideation process of we have the game, we know
it's amazing. Who else can we reach? How else can
we reach them? And then what avenues can we do it.

Speaker 3 (29:05):
Yeah, Look, okay, I think the benefit we have is
we have a super talented team, not only directly in
the broadcast and media group and and the ideas that
get generated from that crew, but across the league. People
aren't afraid to throw ideas at us. I mean, it's
one of the things Commission really, one of his management
and leadership styles is constantly about innovation and evolution and

(29:27):
pushing forward. It's it's not so much what we've done,
it's what we can do and what's ahead of us.
And you sense that around here and there is now
we want to be smart. We want to be smart,
and we want to be thoughtful and where we experiment
and how we push. So a lot of work goes
into the evaluation and ultimately the execution of those ideas.
But you know, it just doesn't stop there. We have
great partners, you know, our partners bring us ideas, Our

(29:49):
partners push us on, Hey can we do this? Hey
can we do that? And we love that. We love that.
And you know other people, I think you've thrown a
few ideas, don't be shy there I about different ideas. So,
you know, a lot a lot of the work ultimately
is a prioritization, so what here is really going to
break through? And then the learnings we get out of
it to make sure you're really disciplined that over time,

(30:10):
you're not doing something to do something, you're doing something
to have an impact. And that's what we've seen, and
you mentioned a couple of those all broadcasts. Certainly, we
love what we've done with Nick, We love the toy story,
we love what you know. I think the Manning cast
have really grown. We love what Amazon's doing with Prime
Vision and that deep, cool predictive elements, you know, bringing
some AI and really inside the game and even going

(30:32):
to the All twenty ten all the broadcast was called Lebron.
Lebron's great. But you know it's not just some of
that stuff catches more of the attention. Some of the
stuff we're doing just to make the game more available
to different parts of our audience, you know, our Spanish
language broadcasts, especially as we add more Spanish broadcast distribution
on Telemundo ultimately now with Univision this year on Super
Bowl with CBS, and making sure we're giving our fans

(30:56):
on the screen they want the experience they want. That's
really important to us. And you know, there's some inertia
to overcome. There's some ways that hey, we've been doing
this for a long time that you got to break
through a little bit. But we're really excited and the
growth and the ways that people can now engage with
our content. What you've seen just with the launch of
NFL Plus, of taking network now where people can watch

(31:17):
you guys on any screen at any time, any place,
or at red Zone and Scott or what YouTube's done
with Sunday Ticket. You know, it's a world that we
all live in and see it every day that just
if you're a media consumer, you know how patterns and
habits are changing, and so we got to change with it.
And at times we can actually use our content to
drive that change, which is exciting.

Speaker 1 (31:37):
One of the other cool things that you guys have
really leaned into the last few years, and I commend
you for it, is the complimentary stuff.

Speaker 3 (31:43):
Now.

Speaker 1 (31:43):
Obviously we have the all cast, but I'm talking partner
with Netflix and a show that was the number one
show this summer. I've told this story before. I was
on a flight to la and there is a young
woman with three kids and she's got her ear pods
in and she's watching Marcus Mariota on the quarterback and
she's tending to the three kids. But I don't Maybe

(32:04):
she's a diehardp maybe she's not. Maybe it's because it's
the number one trending thing on Netflix and she's like,
what is this. I'll click on this and learn more
about Mahomes and cousins. But between that and then I
see the press release about a Skydance documentary with Jerry Jones,
and I know that's in the works. Right now, it
feels like the NFL is Okay, We've got our game
and we're not going to touch it and it's going

(32:24):
to be pure, but there are other extensions we can
do and we're gonna We're gonna try, We're gonna go
for it.

Speaker 3 (32:28):
Yeah, there's so many great stories to tell out there,
and Ross Ketover and Keith and Pat and the film's
team do such a Jess do such a great job.
But I don't think, you know, we just can't do
all of them. So we have this new partnership with Skydance,
and I think you'll start to three really over the
next couple of years, accelerate the amount of great content

(32:49):
we're able to produce about the NFL and all other sports.
You know, the goal there is to be the ultimate
sports studio across media, and I think they're on their
way to do that. And you're right, like we're just
starting to scratch the surface. And some of these other
forms non game stuff or you know, like like quarterback
getting onto those platforms. We know our fans are spending
those times. Sometimes, you know, it's about taking something like

(33:10):
the toy Story game that was available in ninety five countries.
I don't even like that, yeah, right, and trying to
get people to experience football in a different way, you know,
and sometimes about's going up beyond different parts of the game.
Like flag football now is a high school sport for
women in ten states I think around the country, and
it's going to double and it continues to grow at
astronomical rates. It's going to be in the Olympics in

(33:33):
twenty twenty eight, And so how can we cover that more?
You know, more people playing football is a great thing.
It's active, it's athletic, it learns how to be a team.
It's the life lessons you learn. So how can we
help drive that, Like it just gets so wide so
quick in such an exciting way, and a lot of
this means we're going to have some partners that are
there aren't our traditional partners, I mean, you know, and

(33:54):
the fun part in my twenty two years at the
league is generally, you know, we've added partners because people,
once they're in the NFL business, they want to stay
in the NFL business, and we find ways there's different
ways we can and slice our rights, cut our rights
to make sure that people don't want to stay, and
most do just given the uniqueness and the value I
think us, but also our partners, it's really important to have

(34:15):
partners that you know, are happy, partners that are that
are feeling like they're able to participate in the engage
with the excitement and the value creation around the product
that they do, which is awesome. Look a lot of
it we should just talk and take a step back.
What the game itself is just awesome still, you know,
I mean even with you know, the number of close games,

(34:35):
you know, field goal finish, whatever.

Speaker 1 (34:38):
I think on a TV like I'm always in LA
for Fox's pregame on Sundays and I fly back on
Jet Blue and they have the games on the screen
and every single screen on the fight back where there
it be man, woman, child, whoever, it's NFL football, and
it's because it's great as a TV product as well.
I think it lends itself to the TV product as
much as any other sport, and the ratings bear that out.

Speaker 3 (35:00):
Yeah, and look, I mean, you know, it's it's always tough,
and you obviously get a little bit bubbling you see
a Burrow go down or a you know, Aaron Rodgers,
but you know, to see some of these others, the CJ.
Stroud story is just incredible to see what Rock Purty's
doings again, Josh Doobbs, Like, you know, it's the fun
part is the game and the excitement on the game

(35:20):
allows these stories to evolve and allows these players to
step up, and it's just amazing. It's just awesome. Every week,
like the season's funny. You look down and you can't
believe you're already into week twelve. Yea, it feels like
we're in week four and we're here where it's end
of November and we're almost in the stretch of the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (35:37):
From a macro standpoint, and you know, all the articles
and the trades would say that, you know, sport TV
is dying and there's a Hollywood strike in it, but
the football ratings remain pretty good and pretty robust, and
baseball's trying to figure out innovative ways to change their game,
and basketball is in the nd season tournament football's ratings.
Is there a I don't want to say, is there

(35:58):
a pride? But is there sort of a we're the
biggest show in town feeling here or do you guys
keep yourselves grounded and say, hey, that can all go
away in a second. We got to stay and just
treat this as if we're a small town team trying
to get into the game.

Speaker 3 (36:09):
It's definitely more of the latter. Like you know, it's
a constant view of paranoid would be too strong a word.
You know, the quote out there only the paranoid survive.
I'm not sure it's paranoid. But there is a hyper focus. Again,
I go back all the way and from mmissioner on
down and Brian, who leads all of medium business for us,
you know, pushes on it, and just there's an ethos

(36:29):
to how can we continue to innovate, how can we
continue to evolve? And the product's great today, but there
have to be ways we can we can make it better.
And some stuff's very visible. Some stuff you see somebody
you know, you know. A few years ago, we made
did a bunch of research. We used to have five
breaks in a quarter, and that felt like a lot
of commercials. It's interested when we did a you know,

(36:50):
people may remember what we call the old double up
where there's a touchdown, commercial, took a commercial, came back,
kickoff commercial. You know that used to happen. I used
to have a lot throughout the year. And we found
we did a bunch of research and we found our
fans wanted less commercial breaks, but they didn't mind if
they were slightly long. Yeah, And so we went from
a two minute break to a two twenty and we

(37:11):
took five down to four. And it's really benefit of
the game all the way up to the Super Bowl
and the flexibility Now we're working with our partners and
sort of we're able to slide breaks between quarters. So
if there's a natural opportunity a lot of scoring in
one quarter, that's natural downtime, how can we take a
break there? Again, it gets back to what's the best
viewing experience, And by the way, not just for watching

(37:32):
it at home, but in the stadium too. The stadium
is still the best place to see a game. You
go to a game as a pure fan. The excitement,
the vibrancy, it's the drama, the patrick, it's just amazing.
But nobody wants to stand around there either. So, like
all those little things that may not catch as much
of the attention, how can we continue to make it better?
How can we continue to iterate We're going to keep
doing it, you know, and you know, we're fortunate to

(37:55):
have such a great game, great players, great athletes, great
coaches to work around, and so our job is just,
you know, how do we continue it to make it better?

Speaker 1 (38:08):
Your story real quick? I find it cool. You just
said twenty two years of the league and kind of
an unorthodox path. You were working in Sydney, Australia at
one point and you made the jump to go from finance.
I would imagine it was in that world or insurance.

Speaker 3 (38:22):
You tell me it was a football right, yeah, no,
it was, so you know, it's funny. I was the
son of a coach. My dad coached at West Point
at a fascinating time in the sixties. Paul Dietzel was
the head coach who won a national title at LSU,
then had Bill Parson. Well until you lived in a
triplex with Bill Parcells on one side and Bobby and
I on the other. But there's a cradle of coaches
with Ken Hatshield and Bill Battle and whatever. He then

(38:44):
went to be the head coach at the Coast Guard
Academy whereas Ad was autogram and then he came back
to West Point in the seventies, was there with you know,
with a number of other great coaches, with a basketball
coach named Coaches and otherwise so too, and then ended
up working for years for a coach he coach with
Bill Battle and retail licensing and apparel. So I was

(39:05):
an athlete, played and football out of fortune, playing up
through Princeton, and I always love sports. I always was
consumed by it. I did start my career off in
investment banking, sort of followed many of the others at
school down that path and was a remarkable way to
break into the professional world. Incredible experience learned a ton

(39:26):
got to travel as an athlete, didn't get to go
overseason college, so went over to Sydney for a while,
just incredible. Then went to an Internet company during the
first bubble in two thousand and two thousand and one,
asked Jeeves, now asked dot Com and brother randomly a
guy had left the NFL and went to work at
a small startup investment firm with a friend who I

(39:46):
met in Australia and said, the NFL is looking for somebody.
And you know, at that time, it was really much
more of a league. There wasn't that much turnover, that
many new spots, and you know, just so happened. I
was able to get the get And you know, I
always wanted to be in a career where I could
read the sports section first every morning, and that was

(40:07):
that was my job, better than the business section. Now
I read both. But so yeah, it's been great. It's
twenty two years. Got to spend the first four or
five working in all different parts of the league, international
to our stadium construction program, to revenue sharing, but always
with media as a part of that. And then got
asked in two thousand and five to come over and
work in the media business, help lead our deals and

(40:29):
our strategy, and then also incubate a bunch of different
digital businesses. So over that time and then now whatever
that is seventeen years later. Eighteen years later sort of
in the role get to still do and work on
things that are fun and enjoyable in a passion. You know,
if you what's saying, if you find something you're passionate about,

(40:50):
you never work another day in your life. So I'm
not sure that's exactly true. You know, we still work
pretty hard around here, but it is fun to work
on something you really love. So and you work with
great people and great people, you know, that's a fun
thing around here. And just as the job and the
roles of have grown both with in and across the
league and as well as you know with our partners,
just continuing to meet such great people and people that

(41:11):
push you and beat, people that challenge you, but also
create something, create something that is meaningful and has an
impact and you care about. It's really really fun.

Speaker 1 (41:20):
Nick Cassario, the GM of the Texans, was in my
gast two weeks ago. Drew Petsing, the offensive coordinator of
the Cardinals. Guess Nick was working for I think Merrill Lynch.
Drew after was also he was working in finance and
something happened. He got an opportunity and he jumped at it.
And they said, we're sports people, we love it, and
we don't your leap. I mean, that had to be

(41:41):
a bold leap going from investment banking to saying, hey,
ask Jeeves, great the Internet, I'm gonna go work for
the shield. I mean, I can only imagine the courage
it took to jump and do that, but the excitement
as well.

Speaker 3 (41:50):
Yeah, and look, it was it was fun. It was different,
and it was certainly a different track than many of
my peers were taking. But again, I think if you
stay with it and it's something you love and you
invest yourself in it, like, the rest sort of takes
care of itself. And so, you know, it's been a
good run. It's been really fun. I've been very very fortunate,

(42:10):
fortunate to work for great people, work with great people,
and fund that. Twenty two years in, it's still something
that you know, we're watching the you know, the games
over the weekend, and every game you're thinking about, Okay,
what's else I was on the schedule? Is that game
still should that game still be in that window or
that window? Or hey I saw this, Hey we can
do this better? Like and the team's awesome, you know,

(42:31):
the team, especially the broadcast team that I work with
most closely day to day. Now, Like those guys are
just every minute they're always looking, hey, what can we
do better? How can we make the experience of viewing better?
And so that's been a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 (42:43):
A couple of rapid fire as we wrap this up,
and it's been awesome. Who do you hear from more
when it comes to complaints and winding the broadcast networks
or the owners really.

Speaker 3 (42:53):
Neither okay, I would think like, why aren't.

Speaker 1 (42:55):
We getting this get why are you how could you
not give us this primetime or the broadcasting How did
you give us this team in that game? When the
other guy, I feel like that has to be you're
the person they call to just complain and wind too.

Speaker 3 (43:06):
No, oh, you know, look, I think first of all,
in Mike North does an incredible job on both sides.
On the scheduling side itself, which is really your question
is the course scheduling, managing and sort of setting There's
very few surprises people when they get their fund.

Speaker 1 (43:22):
There's been a lot of conversations that lead to that
final schedule review.

Speaker 3 (43:24):
And look, this year was another year. I mean most
years it's the case. We had five really happy partners
six with NFL Media and NFL Networks games. That was
it perfect for everybody? No, they probably wish maybe they
got one thing, but they were all super excited about
their schedules and proactively reached out, which they don't do,
and that's actually makes you feel good. Obviously, the games
need to play out like you think they do. And

(43:46):
then on the club and the ownership side, like again,
we put so much work into it. It takes a village.
It's not just the media and the broadcasting. We put
Donna Ponte in and football, Hey, is this a challenge
to put a team on a road here, then back
at home, then road there. Like all those things we changed.
The ownerships have been incredibly flexible and continue to evolve

(44:08):
to give us more tools and more flexibility to Some
clubs have some things in their schedule that when they
finally see it, they don't love. Absolutely. It's never perfect
and we feel that we own it and we feel
terrible when when we hear that. But I think you know,
those hopefully are much more the exception than the rule.
They definitely exist, and there's definitely things that we learn

(44:28):
from and we follow it away for next year and
say hey, and look, we've already learned, like this is
the first year of completely new media deals and TV
deals with the new format, you know, the away team
no longer what goes into what package, and that gave
us a lot of flexibility as we went into the year.
But we've already learned a lot going into that, and
we've learned about some things we may do a little

(44:49):
bit differently next time, already halfway through the year of
year one. And so that's sort of what makes the
job exciting is you sort of never have it all
figured out. There's always something more to think about. In Crack.

Speaker 1 (44:59):
You're at all the NFL events, you broadcast a lot
of these, you guys are partners with them. Now, obviously
the super Bowl is the crude grad. It's everyone. It's
a one hundred and millions of people watching. I'm a
fan of Day three of the Draft, like that's my thing.
Other people love the combine, other people love kickoff week
and how we get that thing on? Hans Schroeder. What
is something that maybe isn't the headline, but something an
event on the NFL schedule that you love being a

(45:21):
part of or that you love seeing executed on television.

Speaker 3 (45:24):
Well you hit on. I mean, I love the Draft
because I love college football, right, I love football at
all levels. You know, I love college football. I remember
watching aj Green play on like an ESPN high school
Labor Day weekend tournament when he was in high school
in South Carolina. So like I love football at all levels,
I love the Draft. I think the Draft is, you know,

(45:46):
three days of just pure football mersion, and the coverage
you guys give to me is exciting, and it's also
it's exciting for all thirty two, like it's a unique
thing and that all thirty two have reasons to be
excited and cover. It. Doesn't mean the Super Bowl is
not the pinnacle and amazing, right, But I look, I
think there's some things that we have ahead of us.
I think we can do more with the schedule. Lease,

(46:08):
like everybody knows it, but really the schedule is such
a fun point in time and sort of there's so
much that drives people's lives, what road trips they're doing,
you know, when their home games, when they're going to
have the big tailgates and otherwise. I think there's more
we can do to celebrate that moment and lift that
up a little bit. I think that whole free agency
period now and sort of there's more we can build
there in that offseason. And then on the non NFL level,

(46:30):
I think we're going to do some stuff on the
flag side. I think really build something that establishes more
of a sort of national championship type thing in the
summer months that I think will be really cool and
capture some of that excitement for flag that's out there,
and that's building in a more meaningful way. But yeah, no,

(46:50):
I love the heart of it. I love the draft.
That's my personal favorite. So it's already we already do
it a great job, and just how can we make
it bigger?

Speaker 1 (46:58):
Last question? And I asked this to every guest. It's
always the final question. And I asked if to everyone
from McVeigh to Dan Patrick. Couple of weeks ago, you're
in an elevator at the Combine. Young guy comes up,
ill fitting suit, has a Manilla folder in his hand,
and he's got his resume and you've got ten floors together,
and he says, do you have just twenty seconds of advice?

(47:19):
You have my dream job, what would you tell me
to do? I'm a twenty two year old gal or guy,
and I'd love to do what you do someday. What
would be your advice to that person, I'd.

Speaker 3 (47:28):
Say, just keep at it and look at any and
avity avenue to get into sports. I mean, sports is
a community. Which is the great part is it's growing
leaps and bounds. When I started, there was much more
limited opportunities. Now between the extension of media and agencies
and sponsorship and nil in college and otherwise, the sports
marketplace in the sports business arena has just gotten so big.

(47:53):
And if you're passionate you want to do it, there's
a job out there, there's a job out there for you,
and just stay at it and be persistent, you know.
I I before I took the job of the Internet company,
I came back in finance and I applied to the league.
I applied to all all the clubs in all the
NFL clubs in the league. I think I applied to
the baseball a number of baseball teams the NBA and

(48:14):
got rejected across all over every right, like it happened.
D even get an injury or anything. It's just sort
of a form letter back right, a different time and place,
and so but keep persisting, look for your opportunities, keep
developing your resume, developing your skill set, and stay at it.
There's a role out there, there's an opportunity, you know,
chase it. Just you know, if you like sports, getting

(48:35):
your foot in the door in sports, and then once
you're in sports, it's a lot easier to sort of
move within that, within that community. But stay at it
if you love it and you're passionate about it. Again,
if you keep at it, the rest will take care
of itself.

Speaker 1 (48:49):
So it's awesome advice. Friday, three pm Eastern is the
actual game, but I imagine Amazon is going from like noon on.
I'm sure they're.

Speaker 3 (48:56):
Thirty one to thirty start with the pre game into
it three o'clock.

Speaker 1 (49:00):
And is it true that it's not just on Amazon?
Someone told me that it's like I'm listening somewhere, that
you can watch it anywhere.

Speaker 3 (49:05):
So one of the things we wanted to do, especially
with this new window, most of the games are principally
within Amazon Prime. This is available for free across Amazon
if you go to the website, got it, go to
the app. You don't need to get all the way
into Prime. You may need to register otherwise based on
how their app works, but on the website and otherwise
it'll be free, it'll be streaming. There still be over
over the are in the home markets of the two

(49:27):
teams too. Just that's really important to us and continues
to be. But yeah, you've probably seen a lot of
the Rolling Stones Paint in black already great great tune
from back in the day, but fits right in. And
you know, it's it's it's exciting, it's you know, that's
one of the fun things when you're here a while
and you can do something new and be you know,
build something new and again. It's taken a lot of

(49:48):
different people from all across the league to do that.
It's going to be fun, it's going to be exciting,
and hopefully a lot of people are finding time amongst
their busy, busy fridays to watch watch the game, get
some of the unique deals they're going to be part
of the game that Amazon will have for you, and
enjoy some more NFL football.

Speaker 1 (50:03):
Start your week Thursday morning, Good morning football, and end
it on the final snap of Vikings Bears. I think
it sounds like a great plan for the NFL.

Speaker 3 (50:10):
Hey, look, my wife will tell many of our friends
that I have the best job in the world that
I can literally tell her I have to watch football
for my job. So I hear that a lot, but
it's partially true. It does give me some cover for
this weekend, although there's still time for dishes and other
things on Thursday afternoon. So but anyway, so man, thank
you for having me. This is awesome. Have a great

(50:30):
Thanksgiving dude.

Speaker 1 (50:32):
So good. Hans Schroeder, NFL, This is an awesome conversation
and I love doing it in person.

Speaker 3 (50:37):
Thanks for letting us in your office anytime. I'm man beautiful.
We'll see you soon.

Speaker 1 (50:41):
The season with Peter Schrager Delivering Results presented by Uber Eats. Guys,
it is time to give our sponsors some love, and
each week I give a winner of the Delivering Results Award,
and this week I'm gonna go with Josh Allen. I
felt like there was a lot of doubt and a
lot of I don't know, angst in the air, and
I felt like Josh Allen going two seventy five through

(51:03):
the air and three touchdowns on offense and finding his
guys and just showing the Josh Allen of old deserves
some recognition, game balls galore this week. You can give
them to a million people. But as far as delivering results,
which quarterback needed a performance like that most? It was
Josh Allen that was delivering results. Relented by Uber Eats,
where you can get almost almost anything, the official on

(51:23):
demand delivery partner of the NFL. Order. Now, all right, everybody,
have an amazing Thanksgiving. I am very grateful for a
lot of things. One of them is the growth of
this show and the audience for your action. Really grateful
that you guys listen. Grateful for you, Aaron, Grateful for
you Jason. Grateful for the team that puts this thing together.
It's a season with Peter Schreger. And I'm really grateful

(51:45):
that after Thursdays Good Morning Football Show, I can go home.
I could sit on the couch. I can start a
little drinking drinky, I can have a little foodie foodie.
I'll probably have a nap during one of the games.
Wake up Friday, go to work, and then this is
my big reveal. I'll be at that game. I'm taking
my son Mel, We're going to our first game together.
I'm gonna go to the Jets game. I have to

(52:07):
have a lot of anxiety about traffic situations and parking.
Hans didn't talk about this in the process, but there's
a lot of American mall. What's it called the Great
American Arian Dream. I haven't been in a shopping mall.
I'm such a city guy. Now I've been in a
shopping mall in ten years, and I'm fearful of parking
in a shopping mall situation. I don't, Aaron, are you
following this parking situation out there that everyone anytime I

(52:29):
tell anyone, I'm going, Oh the American dream mall though
the parking. I said to Sean O'Hare, I'm like, I'm
going to the game on Friday, super excited. And Shawn o'
harre is like, did you consider the mall? Well?

Speaker 2 (52:40):
I feel like once I moved to New York, I
was done with the mall. Call myself out of both
malls and parking lots.

Speaker 1 (52:47):
If you're not involved with malls or parking lots, nor
am I yet. If there is a cheesecake factory within
a stone's throw, I will be there. If there is
a Sophora, my wife will find it. So I'm not
anti mall. I love anti Ann's I love the sweet Factory.
I love all these sweet factories. Still a thing did
you have that?

Speaker 2 (53:04):
I have never even heard?

Speaker 1 (53:05):
Have you heard a sweet factory? I feel candy pick'm place.
I'm biased to the Freehold basically Mall and Freehold, New Jersey,
which by the way, had an amazing arcade called time
Out If you've ever been fantastic, NBA jam and the
whole thing, Mortal Kombat, all that stuff. Long story short,
I'm taking my son. I'm hoping it's an amazing experience

(53:27):
and if it's not, trust Mail will be the first
one to tell you. On Tuesday one record the podcast.
My wife is coming as well. I just don't want
to get in a fight like that's all it is,
so like hopefully the traffic's okay and hopefully not mean
a fight with like the fans like, no, I don't,
I'm not kidding any far. There will be no parking
I'm angry. No, there'll be no parking lot. I'm talking
about one of those passive aggressive fights with my wife

(53:49):
where we're driving in and we're in an hour it's
worth of traffic and people are honking and she's just
quiet and saying what we couldn't have done this from
the couch. I get that, I know. I already am
anticipated until next week. This is awesome. Aaron Jason, everyone
back on the West Coast, thanks for listening, and guys,
have a good Thanksgiving. The Season with Peter Schrager is

(54:23):
a production of the NFL and partnership with iHeartRadio. For
more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
wherever you get your podcasts.