May 15, 2025 • 23 mins
NFL executive vice president Hans Schroeder joins Dan Hoard to discuss a variety of topics, including why the Bengals are playing a night game in Baltimore for the fourth straight year, and the possibility of Cincinnati hosting the NFL draft.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hig and everybody. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading
the Bengals Booth Podcast. Duh, I know there's an answer addition,
as NFL Executive Vice President Hans Schroeder joins me to
discuss a wide variety of topics, including why the Bengals
are playing a night game in Baltimore for the fourth
(00:23):
year in a row, and the possibility of the NFL
Draft coming to Cincinnati. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought
to you by pay Corps, proud to be the Bengals
official HR software provider, by Ulta Fiber, future proof fiber
Internet designed to elevate your home, business, and community to
a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care
(00:46):
for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare
provider of the Bengals. Now here's a quick reminder that
you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered
right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever
you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since a
pull through parking spot. For me, one of the simple
(01:08):
joys in life is when you're looking for a spot
in a busy lot and you not only find one,
but have the opportunity to drive through that spot right
into another open one that allows you to exit in
the same direction that you entered. For what it's worth,
the American Automobile Association or Triple A, advises pull through
(01:29):
parking whenever possible, since it allows for a safer view
when exiting. As far as I'm concerned, it could have
been the subject of a Seinfeld episode. Can't you picture
George saying, you gotta love a pull through? Jerry, everybody
loves a pull through. Now let's get to football. This
(01:49):
is a short but timely episode of the podcast Following
Wednesday's schedule release. I was among many Bengals fans who
questioned the fairness of Cincinnati having a play a night
game in Baltimore for the fourth year in a row
and the third straight time on a Thursday. So I
discussed it the next day with one of the NFL
executives involved in putting together the schedule. The league's executive
(02:13):
vice president of Media Distribution, Hans Schroeder, ods, I appreciate
you joining me on the Bengals Booth podcast. You have
Cincinnati ties, correct, I.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Do, Dan.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
I am a proud Cincinnati and I grew up most
of my life there. My dad was born in Cincinnati
in thirty six and lived most of his years in Cincinnati.
Went to Withrow and he played football at University of Cincinnati,
and I went to high school in Cincinnati, played football
at Sinsid Country Day, and then played football Princeton University
after that. So a lot of ties back to the
(02:49):
Queen City.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Did you attend a lot of Bengals games as a kid,
and if so, do you have a favorite memory.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
We did attend a few, you know, there was one
game in particular, it was right around the Christmas time,
I think against the Vikings that stood out. I just
I don't know why that was so memorable. The other
one that was very memorable in a different way was
(03:16):
I think would have been the eighty seven strike season.
We were at the game the week before the strike,
I think, where they were ahead against the Niners. At
the end of the game. We were with friends. We
left early thinking the victory was in the books, and
then we got to the car and heard what had
happened at the tail end in that last minute touchdown
(03:37):
I think till Jerry Rice at.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
The end of that game. So the different highs and lows.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
I think we won that Vikings game, and that was
another game that that broke the other way.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
So I think the Vikings game you're talking about they
won on a field goal at the gun by Doug Pelfrey,
and the forty nine Ers game they won that they lost.
Sam White famously went for it on fourth down the
Bengals in their own territory, thinking they could like run
around in the backfield and kill the remaining clock. They didn't.
It gave the forty nine Ers one last chance touchdown
(04:10):
pass to Jerry Rice.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Not a great memory, but they're all fun.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
As a kid, going to an NFL game and being
able to go to a football game like that was
always special. Even though Dad coached and was around the
game a lot, it was always just that magical experience
of walking into an NFL stadium.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
All Right, we appreciate you joining us on the podcast
to talk about the NFL schedule. We have established your
Cincinnati bonafide, so I think I can get right to
the biggest gripe that Bengals fans have after seeing the
schedule release. This is the fourth straight year that the
Bengals are going to play a night game in Baltimore.
It's the third straight year that the game is on
(04:46):
a Thursday night. It's obviously tough to win under those circumstances. Now,
I think we all get you've got thirty two teams
to satisfy. It's impossible to come up with a complete
fairness when you put the schedule together. But was there
an effort made to try to avoid having that happened
for the fourth year in a row.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
There, you know, there was, And look, we look at
things over time year to year. Things are going to happen.
They may happen a couple of years in a row,
but we were certainly aware of that. We were also
aware of being on the road a lot recently in
prime time, particularly against division opponents, and those were things
we looked at some options along the way, and certainly
(05:28):
saw some schedules with different mixes of prime time for
the Bengals. But I think then, like what we tried
to look at is the totality of it. And you know,
one of the things the Bengals have done over the
last four or five years has played their way onto
the national stage, and I think their schedule reflects that.
You see that across their primetime windows, but you also
(05:51):
see that across the doubleheaders and them being featured with
Green Bay and featured in Buffalo and featured with Detroit,
which those are also really big wins for us, are
our biggest windows across the ear and so we certainly
saw it. We saw it when we were in Baltimore again,
and I'll come back to Thanksgiving in a second, but
(06:11):
we also saw the totality of the schedule, and I
think if you look at the Bengals, no three game
road trips, you know they're away obviously have this this
year just based on who they play, the shortest travel
time of any team in the league, which hopefully makes
your life a.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Little bit easier.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
But you know, every team looks at things differently, but
we thought there was a really nice mix of being
on the road.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Being at home.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
You know, different teams will look at when they're in
Green Bay or when they're in Miami. You know, you're
in Green Bay a little bit earlier this year, you're
in Miami a little bit later. Teams will probably sort
of like that based on the weather and the dynamics
or otherwise, and so well, ultimately we were a little
bit more focused on the right overall schedule. You know,
we saw some schedules late for Cincinnati that had a
three game road trip in it for an example, and
(06:59):
again Visa VI this schedule, we thought this was a
better overall schedule for the club. But seeing that again
they're in four primes, I think threer on the road.
You know, we're mindful of that, and I think as
we get into next year will probably be even a
little bit more forceful on how we think about that.
But overall, we really like the Bengals schedule, like we
try to do for all thirty two teams, and be
(07:21):
really fair and make sure we're not doing anything to
disrupt the competitive aspect. The last thing I'd say then
on Thanksgiving specifically, Look, we went into the year. Thanksgiving
has become such a big day for NFL fans and food,
family football, and you can see across that day. We
saw last year there are forty million viewers that tuned
(07:41):
into Detroit's game in Chicago against Chicago after two thirty.
The highest few regular season games ever are that four
to thirty game in Dallas, and so we saw there
as an opportunity with a lot of really good matchups
this year to really try to cater to our fans
we know are tuning in and really big and high
(08:03):
levels that day, and so we put our thumb on
the scale to try to get really great matchups across
that Thanksgiving Day and into Black Friday too. And so
one thing I'd say to the Cincinnati fans is, you know,
a lot of that's a sign of where the Bengals
have come and played too.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
They've played their way into prime.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
They played their way into the biggest stages in primetime
on Thanksgiving nights one of those.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
No doubt about it. And in fairness, the Bengals do
have a Thursday night home game against the Steelers this year,
so they do have an AFC North primetime game at home,
which they hadn't had for a few years. I just
want to quickly get back to the Baltimore thing, though,
final question on that topic. This might be overly simplistic
on my part, but couldn't they simply have been flip
(08:46):
flopped Bengals at home. I'm Thanksgiving against Baltimore Ravens in
Cincinnati at one o'clock two weeks later.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Look, we looked at we certainly saw some configurations like
that and flipped again, it's it's solving for a really
complex puzzle with all and how the different pieces come
together and in this one and where the final one
that we like the best for everybody. But I will
tell you for Cincinnati too, we like their schedule with
(09:16):
this configuration a little bit better. But I think we
totally get it, We totally hear it. You know, we'll
try to mix that up. I think, you know, great example,
green Bay has been on the road to start the
year a lot of straight years.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
You see him at home this year.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
So there's things that when we've seen that happen for
an extended period, and I think we're getting close to
that with the Thursday night in Baltimore. I think that we'll,
you know, we'll look at that maybe a little bit
differently in the future, but we really like the overall
schedule this year for Cincinnati.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
NFL Executive vice President Hans Schroeder is our guest. You
have seven media partners. Now, do those media partners say
we want a Joe Burrow game.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Yeah, that's a simple and straightforward question. And Joe is
obviously incredible and in that you know, handful of of
you know, best quarterbacks in the league, but there's a
lot more to it. You know, they're they're an exciting
you know last year you know No. Nine and eight,
but a lot of really exciting games. I mean, both
(10:16):
those Ravens games are super exciting. The Commander's game on
Monday Night super exciting. They're a fun team to watch,
and so yeah, they're definitely a team that that partners
asked for, and partners are excited when they see them
on their schedule, and I think they're on you know,
put aside that the one offs of of maybe Christmas Day,
I think you know, you'll see the Bengals across to
(10:40):
all our partners or at least all our major days
like a Thanksgiving too. So they're on Amazon, They're on
Monday Night, They're on Sunday Night, They're on both Box
and CBS's key big double headers going across the entire country.
I think in back to back weeks weeks five and
six against Detroit and then coming back in Lambeau the
next week, those are our biggest dude windows of the
(11:02):
of the weeks. So definitely you see that interest across
our partners.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
I read today that more than four thousand computers are
involved and trying to put together as close to a
perfect schedule as you possibly can. What are the things
that you input that you try to avoid. You referenced
trying to avoid three game road trips, that's obviously one.
What are the some of the things that you're trying
to get those computers to avoid.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
You know, it starts with the really basics. Every stadium
across the league has certain dates for whatever reasons, they're
just not available. So Cincinnati is a great one. Almost
every year we have a weekend or two early in
the year where the Reds are at home, and that's
a challenging date.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
For us to play Cincinnati at home.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
So think about that first lens of we go in
and say, here are the dates we just can't play right,
and then you layer on things like travel and sort
of again, we mentioned three game road trips or things
we like to avoid. We're never perfect. I think this
year's final schedule had three of those. But we look
to avoid things like teams playing on the road road
(12:09):
after a Monday night. You know, we try not to
have teams be on the road, traveling home, getting late
to their facility Monday night, back on the road the
following Sunday, try to put them at home on Thursday night.
We have certain geographic distances, you know, we can't play
and don't play three time zone travel and trips, so
that limits who and where and where you can play
(12:30):
on a Thursday night. Again, we try to look across
the year with division opponents and sprinkle those up when
and where and look at the pairings. Again, this isn't
necessarily an AFC North the issue, but you know, one
of the things we liked about the schedule this year
is in the NFC East is an example, Washington and
(12:50):
Dallas had played each other in Week eighteen the last
three or four years in a row. We remixed that
up this year and changed the shuffle. So we look
at some things like that. There's bye weeks and trying
to be equitable for the bye weeks all but also
see where they're short weeks with Thursdays fall. There's the
European and the international travel that gets layered on there,
(13:11):
and so it's a bit of a jigsaw puzzle as
all those different things come together. Then trying to make sure,
like you said, we get teams into different partners packages
as well. So that's another limitation Okay, I want to
make sure I see Cincinnati in a Thursday night, in
a Monday night, in a Sunday night. So all those
things sort of go into the soup of how the
(13:33):
computer has to think about it. Computers only as smart
as we ask it to be, with the rules and
the things we act, you know, we asked it to do.
But all those factors are things we asked them to
wait and include in the schedules they output to us.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
And you referenced international games. I was a little bit
surprised the Bengals weren't selected to play in an international
game this year. Katie Blackburn has already come out and
said publicly that she expects to host one in twenty
twenty seven, the next time the Bengals have nine home games.
If that's the case, does it make it less likely
that the Bengals would play as a road team next year,
(14:08):
knowing there's a high probability there'll be a home team
the year after.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Nope.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
In fact, we saw a lot of schedules this year
that had the Bengals playing in international games. We saw
a lot that had them. I know, there was a
lot of speculation for some reason, and maybe Joe said
it at.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Some point, but I think maybe I saw along the way.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Yeah, So the mayor of Madrid came out publicly and
said that Cincinnati was going to be Miami's opponent. We
don't know where the mayor of Madrid got that, but
it led to all this speculation that somehow that had
been leaked to the mayor and it was going to happen.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
So that's a great example, right of how this all
ties together. And this isn't a hard and fast rule,
but one of the things that we saw with just
how the timing laid out was if the Bengals, which
were very very much a candidate to go to Madrid,
if they went to Madrid, then they would come home,
have a week, and then potentially be on the road
(15:04):
on a short day Thursday. Because we really liked that idea,
not that it had to necessarily be Baltimore, but like
the idea of Cincinnati in primetime on Thanksgiving Night, particularly
with Baltimore, given those games when you stitch it all together,
then we weren't going to necessarily make them go to Madrid,
come back, have one week, and then play a short
week Thursday. We were allowed to do it but it
(15:26):
was one of the things we just felt, you know what,
for the right schedule for them, probably something we avoid
this year. So great example of how these things connect
to one another, and sort of the Thanksgiving Thursday probably
definitively impacted how we were thinking about them in Madrid,
But they were certainly a candidate and will certainly be
a candidate again next year for international slate of games.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
This is only the second time the Bengals have played
on Thanksgiving, and the previous time was a long time
ago twenty ten. Was that one of the things that
you considered, Hey, I have not had that team on
Thanksgiving in a long long time.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
For sure, And look, I think it's such a big
stage now for us, you know, it has to be
a game and a matchup that we feel good about
as that threshold. But then we also love, you know,
the traditions in Detroit and Dallas are awesome. I mean,
even for somebody that's not from either place, it feels
like Thanksgiving. It feels like watching John Matten back in
the day covering a game, like they feel naturally organic
(16:27):
to Thanksgiving into the NFL and the football. But we
also love the fact that we can rotate that primetime
game around and it can go to different places and
other markets. Green Bay last year was one of them.
As an example, that felt like a really cool way
to end Thanksgiving Thursday of football in Lambeau. Like again,
it feels like a really great football game to Baltimore
(16:47):
in a Rayvends Bengals game.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
How you're ending Thanksgiving night? That feels very special.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I know NBC is thrilled to have that game to
end that day, but yeah, we try to rotate and
get different exposures, whether it's there or now we have
Black Friday, now we have Christmas. You know it is
delivered for us. We wanted different teams to host some
things will play on both Thanksgiving and Christmas, but wanted
to mix that up a little bit, give different teams
the opportunity to host on Christmas. So definitely something we
(17:15):
look at.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
NFL Executive VP Hunts Schroeder is our guest. Last year,
the Bengals played Dallas in a game that featured an
alternative Simpsons telecast. Will there be something similar this year?
And do you try to pick different teams every year
for those special productions?
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Definitely do the latter, and you know that was something
we came up with a couple of years ago. We
really like Disney has been an awesome partner, first with
the Toy Story experience and then last year with the
Simpsons experience. Probably not going to be in Cincinnati game
again this year. I think your Monday night game for
that game on is side by side where you're in
(17:56):
Denver alongside another game that we so we'll probably look
to do something else for another Monday Night game with
Disney throughout the year. But for us, those are really
fun ways to take football and present the differently it's available,
and it ultimately goes available to ninety plus countries around
the world, and to take sort of that ip that
(18:17):
Disney has, that's really fun to marry it to an
NFL game, to use the next gen stats platform that
we have, just a different and fun expression of the game.
So we thought it was really cool last year. The
Bengals were great to work with and that game, obviously
if you're a Cincinnati fan, was really special with how
it ended and seeing I think was it Barter was
(18:39):
at least that was playing Jamar with that touchdown down
the sideline to sort of bring it home was just
a fun way when you saw the replays of that
were pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yeah, it's the only time in Bengals history that they
had their own punt blocked and that enabled them to
win the game when Dallas kind of botched the recovery
of the block punt. I'm always in intrigued cons by
things that we don't even think about that impact the
NFL schedule. Are there any big concert tours or other
unusual events that pose challenges this year?
Speaker 3 (19:13):
There's always something, and there's always something you know there
you hit on some of them, the concerts. Some of
them are baseball stadiums and shared parking lots. Some of
it are marathons, right. Some of it you never know
what the events and where it's going to be. Sometimes
it's an international soccer game or something that that's happening.
(19:34):
Sometimes it's college football based on some of those buildings.
So you know, there's a handful of things that that
all can factor into that. You know, our buildings are
incredible facilities or incredible facilities for football. You know, they're
incredible facilities for other events that oftentimes our clubs do
(19:54):
really good jobs. Are giving us the flexibility so we
can try to get to the best NFL schedule we can,
but there's certainly a handful of other things that will
pop up from time to time, and all of a
sudden you find and sale kid as a handful of
dates here or there.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
We just can't get into it a building.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
I don't know if this topic crosses your desk or not,
but I'll ask the question anyway. The Bengals in the
city of Cincinnati are hoping to host the Draft in
twenty twenty eight or shortly after that. As a city
that doesn't have a dome and therefore will probably never
host a Super Bowl, does that increase the chances of
Cincinnati potentially hosting the Draft?
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Look, I would certainly hope, so, you know one to
you know, I'm not super close to how we choose
locations today, but I will say one of my projects
earlier in my career was leading the work that led
to us to take the Draft on the road and
so put the Draft in Chicago the first year, and
so was intimately involved in sort of driving that and
leading this to do that, obviously with the Commissioner's overall
(20:55):
guidance in leadership. But you know, I caninue to be
amazed and it's just so cool with that event's become
to see in even Green Bay, Wisconsin, hundreds of thousands
of people and those visuals of what the draft looks
like over those three days is spectacular. And to your
point earlier, you know, I'm not sure we're going to
(21:17):
get to every market for a super Bowl, but the
Draft is an event. I think we've done a great
job with it to day about how we take that
to different NFL markets and how we give fans in
those markets, not only in that direct city, but it's
amazing how fans travel from all different areas around to
come in for that Draft weekend. And I think knowing
(21:39):
the city, knowing what we do for great events, not
only sporting events. Octoberfest in the fall is obviously a
big what they do big of an opening day for
the Reds like we do big events well in Cincinnati,
and I think they do an incredible job with the Draft.
So I'll leave it to my colleagues as they work
through that process, but certainly something I love seeing is
how we go to different markets nique ways and to
(22:01):
draft the great event to do that with.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
If Cincinnati can get a draft and a Thursday night
home game against Baltimore. You will get no complaints from
the fans in your hometown.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Noted.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
I'll make sure I share that back with the team,
so I'll take my graters next time I come into town.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Make sure it's okay, Tomes.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
I really appreciate your time. This has been informative and
fun for me. Thanks so much for joining us.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Thank you Dad anytime, Take care, stay well, and really
appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
That's going to do it for this episode of the
Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by pay Core, Proud
to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta
Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business
and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health
the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. If you haven't
(22:55):
done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if
you have a minute, give it a rating or share
a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm
Dan Horde and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.
Hig and everybody. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading
the Bengals Booth Podcast. Duh, I know there's an answer addition,
as NFL Executive Vice President Hans Schroeder joins me to
discuss a wide variety of topics, including why the Bengals
are playing a night game in Baltimore for the fourth
(00:23):
year in a row, and the possibility of the NFL
Draft coming to Cincinnati. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought
to you by pay Corps, proud to be the Bengals
official HR software provider, by Ulta Fiber, future proof fiber
Internet designed to elevate your home, business, and community to
a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care
(00:46):
for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare
provider of the Bengals. Now here's a quick reminder that
you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered
right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever
you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since a
pull through parking spot. For me, one of the simple
(01:08):
joys in life is when you're looking for a spot
in a busy lot and you not only find one,
but have the opportunity to drive through that spot right
into another open one that allows you to exit in
the same direction that you entered. For what it's worth,
the American Automobile Association or Triple A, advises pull through
(01:29):
parking whenever possible, since it allows for a safer view
when exiting. As far as I'm concerned, it could have
been the subject of a Seinfeld episode. Can't you picture
George saying, you gotta love a pull through? Jerry, everybody
loves a pull through. Now let's get to football. This
(01:49):
is a short but timely episode of the podcast Following
Wednesday's schedule release. I was among many Bengals fans who
questioned the fairness of Cincinnati having a play a night
game in Baltimore for the fourth year in a row
and the third straight time on a Thursday. So I
discussed it the next day with one of the NFL
executives involved in putting together the schedule. The league's executive
(02:13):
vice president of Media Distribution, Hans Schroeder, ods, I appreciate
you joining me on the Bengals Booth podcast. You have
Cincinnati ties, correct, I.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Do, Dan.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
I am a proud Cincinnati and I grew up most
of my life there. My dad was born in Cincinnati
in thirty six and lived most of his years in Cincinnati.
Went to Withrow and he played football at University of Cincinnati,
and I went to high school in Cincinnati, played football
at Sinsid Country Day, and then played football Princeton University
after that. So a lot of ties back to the
(02:49):
Queen City.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Did you attend a lot of Bengals games as a kid,
and if so, do you have a favorite memory.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
We did attend a few, you know, there was one
game in particular, it was right around the Christmas time,
I think against the Vikings that stood out. I just
I don't know why that was so memorable. The other
one that was very memorable in a different way was
(03:16):
I think would have been the eighty seven strike season.
We were at the game the week before the strike,
I think, where they were ahead against the Niners. At
the end of the game. We were with friends. We
left early thinking the victory was in the books, and
then we got to the car and heard what had
happened at the tail end in that last minute touchdown
(03:37):
I think till Jerry Rice at.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
The end of that game. So the different highs and lows.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
I think we won that Vikings game, and that was
another game that that broke the other way.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
So I think the Vikings game you're talking about they
won on a field goal at the gun by Doug Pelfrey,
and the forty nine Ers game they won that they lost.
Sam White famously went for it on fourth down the
Bengals in their own territory, thinking they could like run
around in the backfield and kill the remaining clock. They didn't.
It gave the forty nine Ers one last chance touchdown
(04:10):
pass to Jerry Rice.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Not a great memory, but they're all fun.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
As a kid, going to an NFL game and being
able to go to a football game like that was
always special. Even though Dad coached and was around the
game a lot, it was always just that magical experience
of walking into an NFL stadium.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
All Right, we appreciate you joining us on the podcast
to talk about the NFL schedule. We have established your
Cincinnati bonafide, so I think I can get right to
the biggest gripe that Bengals fans have after seeing the
schedule release. This is the fourth straight year that the
Bengals are going to play a night game in Baltimore.
It's the third straight year that the game is on
(04:46):
a Thursday night. It's obviously tough to win under those circumstances. Now,
I think we all get you've got thirty two teams
to satisfy. It's impossible to come up with a complete
fairness when you put the schedule together. But was there
an effort made to try to avoid having that happened
for the fourth year in a row.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
There, you know, there was, And look, we look at
things over time year to year. Things are going to happen.
They may happen a couple of years in a row,
but we were certainly aware of that. We were also
aware of being on the road a lot recently in
prime time, particularly against division opponents, and those were things
we looked at some options along the way, and certainly
(05:28):
saw some schedules with different mixes of prime time for
the Bengals. But I think then, like what we tried
to look at is the totality of it. And you know,
one of the things the Bengals have done over the
last four or five years has played their way onto
the national stage, and I think their schedule reflects that.
You see that across their primetime windows, but you also
(05:51):
see that across the doubleheaders and them being featured with
Green Bay and featured in Buffalo and featured with Detroit,
which those are also really big wins for us, are
our biggest windows across the ear and so we certainly
saw it. We saw it when we were in Baltimore again,
and I'll come back to Thanksgiving in a second, but
(06:11):
we also saw the totality of the schedule, and I
think if you look at the Bengals, no three game
road trips, you know they're away obviously have this this
year just based on who they play, the shortest travel
time of any team in the league, which hopefully makes
your life a.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Little bit easier.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
But you know, every team looks at things differently, but
we thought there was a really nice mix of being
on the road.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Being at home.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
You know, different teams will look at when they're in
Green Bay or when they're in Miami. You know, you're
in Green Bay a little bit earlier this year, you're
in Miami a little bit later. Teams will probably sort
of like that based on the weather and the dynamics
or otherwise, and so well, ultimately we were a little
bit more focused on the right overall schedule. You know,
we saw some schedules late for Cincinnati that had a
three game road trip in it for an example, and
(06:59):
again Visa VI this schedule, we thought this was a
better overall schedule for the club. But seeing that again
they're in four primes, I think threer on the road.
You know, we're mindful of that, and I think as
we get into next year will probably be even a
little bit more forceful on how we think about that.
But overall, we really like the Bengals schedule, like we
try to do for all thirty two teams, and be
(07:21):
really fair and make sure we're not doing anything to
disrupt the competitive aspect. The last thing I'd say then
on Thanksgiving specifically, Look, we went into the year. Thanksgiving
has become such a big day for NFL fans and food,
family football, and you can see across that day. We
saw last year there are forty million viewers that tuned
(07:41):
into Detroit's game in Chicago against Chicago after two thirty.
The highest few regular season games ever are that four
to thirty game in Dallas, and so we saw there
as an opportunity with a lot of really good matchups
this year to really try to cater to our fans
we know are tuning in and really big and high
(08:03):
levels that day, and so we put our thumb on
the scale to try to get really great matchups across
that Thanksgiving Day and into Black Friday too. And so
one thing I'd say to the Cincinnati fans is, you know,
a lot of that's a sign of where the Bengals
have come and played too.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
They've played their way into prime.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
They played their way into the biggest stages in primetime
on Thanksgiving nights one of those.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
No doubt about it. And in fairness, the Bengals do
have a Thursday night home game against the Steelers this year,
so they do have an AFC North primetime game at home,
which they hadn't had for a few years. I just
want to quickly get back to the Baltimore thing, though,
final question on that topic. This might be overly simplistic
on my part, but couldn't they simply have been flip
(08:46):
flopped Bengals at home. I'm Thanksgiving against Baltimore Ravens in
Cincinnati at one o'clock two weeks later.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Look, we looked at we certainly saw some configurations like
that and flipped again, it's it's solving for a really
complex puzzle with all and how the different pieces come
together and in this one and where the final one
that we like the best for everybody. But I will
tell you for Cincinnati too, we like their schedule with
(09:16):
this configuration a little bit better. But I think we
totally get it, We totally hear it. You know, we'll
try to mix that up. I think, you know, great example,
green Bay has been on the road to start the
year a lot of straight years.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
You see him at home this year.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
So there's things that when we've seen that happen for
an extended period, and I think we're getting close to
that with the Thursday night in Baltimore. I think that we'll,
you know, we'll look at that maybe a little bit
differently in the future, but we really like the overall
schedule this year for Cincinnati.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
NFL Executive vice President Hans Schroeder is our guest. You
have seven media partners. Now, do those media partners say
we want a Joe Burrow game.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Yeah, that's a simple and straightforward question. And Joe is
obviously incredible and in that you know, handful of of
you know, best quarterbacks in the league, but there's a
lot more to it. You know, they're they're an exciting
you know last year you know No. Nine and eight,
but a lot of really exciting games. I mean, both
(10:16):
those Ravens games are super exciting. The Commander's game on
Monday Night super exciting. They're a fun team to watch,
and so yeah, they're definitely a team that that partners
asked for, and partners are excited when they see them
on their schedule, and I think they're on you know,
put aside that the one offs of of maybe Christmas Day,
I think you know, you'll see the Bengals across to
(10:40):
all our partners or at least all our major days
like a Thanksgiving too. So they're on Amazon, They're on
Monday Night, They're on Sunday Night, They're on both Box
and CBS's key big double headers going across the entire country.
I think in back to back weeks weeks five and
six against Detroit and then coming back in Lambeau the
next week, those are our biggest dude windows of the
(11:02):
of the weeks. So definitely you see that interest across
our partners.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
I read today that more than four thousand computers are
involved and trying to put together as close to a
perfect schedule as you possibly can. What are the things
that you input that you try to avoid. You referenced
trying to avoid three game road trips, that's obviously one.
What are the some of the things that you're trying
to get those computers to avoid.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
You know, it starts with the really basics. Every stadium
across the league has certain dates for whatever reasons, they're
just not available. So Cincinnati is a great one. Almost
every year we have a weekend or two early in
the year where the Reds are at home, and that's
a challenging date.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
For us to play Cincinnati at home.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
So think about that first lens of we go in
and say, here are the dates we just can't play right,
and then you layer on things like travel and sort
of again, we mentioned three game road trips or things
we like to avoid. We're never perfect. I think this
year's final schedule had three of those. But we look
to avoid things like teams playing on the road road
(12:09):
after a Monday night. You know, we try not to
have teams be on the road, traveling home, getting late
to their facility Monday night, back on the road the
following Sunday, try to put them at home on Thursday night.
We have certain geographic distances, you know, we can't play
and don't play three time zone travel and trips, so
that limits who and where and where you can play
(12:30):
on a Thursday night. Again, we try to look across
the year with division opponents and sprinkle those up when
and where and look at the pairings. Again, this isn't
necessarily an AFC North the issue, but you know, one
of the things we liked about the schedule this year
is in the NFC East is an example, Washington and
(12:50):
Dallas had played each other in Week eighteen the last
three or four years in a row. We remixed that
up this year and changed the shuffle. So we look
at some things like that. There's bye weeks and trying
to be equitable for the bye weeks all but also
see where they're short weeks with Thursdays fall. There's the
European and the international travel that gets layered on there,
(13:11):
and so it's a bit of a jigsaw puzzle as
all those different things come together. Then trying to make sure,
like you said, we get teams into different partners packages
as well. So that's another limitation Okay, I want to
make sure I see Cincinnati in a Thursday night, in
a Monday night, in a Sunday night. So all those
things sort of go into the soup of how the
(13:33):
computer has to think about it. Computers only as smart
as we ask it to be, with the rules and
the things we act, you know, we asked it to do.
But all those factors are things we asked them to
wait and include in the schedules they output to us.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
And you referenced international games. I was a little bit
surprised the Bengals weren't selected to play in an international
game this year. Katie Blackburn has already come out and
said publicly that she expects to host one in twenty
twenty seven, the next time the Bengals have nine home games.
If that's the case, does it make it less likely
that the Bengals would play as a road team next year,
(14:08):
knowing there's a high probability there'll be a home team
the year after.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Nope.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
In fact, we saw a lot of schedules this year
that had the Bengals playing in international games. We saw
a lot that had them. I know, there was a
lot of speculation for some reason, and maybe Joe said
it at.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Some point, but I think maybe I saw along the way.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Yeah, So the mayor of Madrid came out publicly and
said that Cincinnati was going to be Miami's opponent. We
don't know where the mayor of Madrid got that, but
it led to all this speculation that somehow that had
been leaked to the mayor and it was going to happen.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
So that's a great example, right of how this all
ties together. And this isn't a hard and fast rule,
but one of the things that we saw with just
how the timing laid out was if the Bengals, which
were very very much a candidate to go to Madrid,
if they went to Madrid, then they would come home,
have a week, and then potentially be on the road
(15:04):
on a short day Thursday. Because we really liked that idea,
not that it had to necessarily be Baltimore, but like
the idea of Cincinnati in primetime on Thanksgiving Night, particularly
with Baltimore, given those games when you stitch it all together,
then we weren't going to necessarily make them go to Madrid,
come back, have one week, and then play a short
week Thursday. We were allowed to do it but it
(15:26):
was one of the things we just felt, you know what,
for the right schedule for them, probably something we avoid
this year. So great example of how these things connect
to one another, and sort of the Thanksgiving Thursday probably
definitively impacted how we were thinking about them in Madrid,
But they were certainly a candidate and will certainly be
a candidate again next year for international slate of games.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
This is only the second time the Bengals have played
on Thanksgiving, and the previous time was a long time
ago twenty ten. Was that one of the things that
you considered, Hey, I have not had that team on
Thanksgiving in a long long time.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
For sure, And look, I think it's such a big
stage now for us, you know, it has to be
a game and a matchup that we feel good about
as that threshold. But then we also love, you know,
the traditions in Detroit and Dallas are awesome. I mean,
even for somebody that's not from either place, it feels
like Thanksgiving. It feels like watching John Matten back in
the day covering a game, like they feel naturally organic
(16:27):
to Thanksgiving into the NFL and the football. But we
also love the fact that we can rotate that primetime
game around and it can go to different places and
other markets. Green Bay last year was one of them.
As an example, that felt like a really cool way
to end Thanksgiving Thursday of football in Lambeau. Like again,
it feels like a really great football game to Baltimore
(16:47):
in a Rayvends Bengals game.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
How you're ending Thanksgiving night? That feels very special.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I know NBC is thrilled to have that game to
end that day, but yeah, we try to rotate and
get different exposures, whether it's there or now we have
Black Friday, now we have Christmas. You know it is
delivered for us. We wanted different teams to host some
things will play on both Thanksgiving and Christmas, but wanted
to mix that up a little bit, give different teams
the opportunity to host on Christmas. So definitely something we
(17:15):
look at.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
NFL Executive VP Hunts Schroeder is our guest. Last year,
the Bengals played Dallas in a game that featured an
alternative Simpsons telecast. Will there be something similar this year?
And do you try to pick different teams every year
for those special productions?
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Definitely do the latter, and you know that was something
we came up with a couple of years ago. We
really like Disney has been an awesome partner, first with
the Toy Story experience and then last year with the
Simpsons experience. Probably not going to be in Cincinnati game
again this year. I think your Monday night game for
that game on is side by side where you're in
(17:56):
Denver alongside another game that we so we'll probably look
to do something else for another Monday Night game with
Disney throughout the year. But for us, those are really
fun ways to take football and present the differently it's available,
and it ultimately goes available to ninety plus countries around
the world, and to take sort of that ip that
(18:17):
Disney has, that's really fun to marry it to an
NFL game, to use the next gen stats platform that
we have, just a different and fun expression of the game.
So we thought it was really cool last year. The
Bengals were great to work with and that game, obviously
if you're a Cincinnati fan, was really special with how
it ended and seeing I think was it Barter was
(18:39):
at least that was playing Jamar with that touchdown down
the sideline to sort of bring it home was just
a fun way when you saw the replays of that
were pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yeah, it's the only time in Bengals history that they
had their own punt blocked and that enabled them to
win the game when Dallas kind of botched the recovery
of the block punt. I'm always in intrigued cons by
things that we don't even think about that impact the
NFL schedule. Are there any big concert tours or other
unusual events that pose challenges this year?
Speaker 3 (19:13):
There's always something, and there's always something you know there
you hit on some of them, the concerts. Some of
them are baseball stadiums and shared parking lots. Some of
it are marathons, right. Some of it you never know
what the events and where it's going to be. Sometimes
it's an international soccer game or something that that's happening.
(19:34):
Sometimes it's college football based on some of those buildings.
So you know, there's a handful of things that that
all can factor into that. You know, our buildings are
incredible facilities or incredible facilities for football. You know, they're
incredible facilities for other events that oftentimes our clubs do
(19:54):
really good jobs. Are giving us the flexibility so we
can try to get to the best NFL schedule we can,
but there's certainly a handful of other things that will
pop up from time to time, and all of a
sudden you find and sale kid as a handful of
dates here or there.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
We just can't get into it a building.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
I don't know if this topic crosses your desk or not,
but I'll ask the question anyway. The Bengals in the
city of Cincinnati are hoping to host the Draft in
twenty twenty eight or shortly after that. As a city
that doesn't have a dome and therefore will probably never
host a Super Bowl, does that increase the chances of
Cincinnati potentially hosting the Draft?
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Look, I would certainly hope, so, you know one to
you know, I'm not super close to how we choose
locations today, but I will say one of my projects
earlier in my career was leading the work that led
to us to take the Draft on the road and
so put the Draft in Chicago the first year, and
so was intimately involved in sort of driving that and
leading this to do that, obviously with the Commissioner's overall
(20:55):
guidance in leadership. But you know, I caninue to be
amazed and it's just so cool with that event's become
to see in even Green Bay, Wisconsin, hundreds of thousands
of people and those visuals of what the draft looks
like over those three days is spectacular. And to your
point earlier, you know, I'm not sure we're going to
(21:17):
get to every market for a super Bowl, but the
Draft is an event. I think we've done a great
job with it to day about how we take that
to different NFL markets and how we give fans in
those markets, not only in that direct city, but it's
amazing how fans travel from all different areas around to
come in for that Draft weekend. And I think knowing
(21:39):
the city, knowing what we do for great events, not
only sporting events. Octoberfest in the fall is obviously a
big what they do big of an opening day for
the Reds like we do big events well in Cincinnati,
and I think they do an incredible job with the Draft.
So I'll leave it to my colleagues as they work
through that process, but certainly something I love seeing is
how we go to different markets nique ways and to
(22:01):
draft the great event to do that with.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
If Cincinnati can get a draft and a Thursday night
home game against Baltimore. You will get no complaints from
the fans in your hometown.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Noted.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
I'll make sure I share that back with the team,
so I'll take my graters next time I come into town.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Make sure it's okay, Tomes.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
I really appreciate your time. This has been informative and
fun for me. Thanks so much for joining us.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Thank you Dad anytime, Take care, stay well, and really
appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
That's going to do it for this episode of the
Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by pay Core, Proud
to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta
Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business
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the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
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(22:55):
done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if
you have a minute, give it a rating or share
a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm
Dan Horde and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.
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