Why the Bills vs. Chiefs game will take place on Sunday Night Football

In reality, this has not happened in the last two years.

Instead of taking place in standalone primetime windows, regular season meetings between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs began at 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS in 2022 and 2023.

When it comes to the 2024 edition of this AFC rivalry, Bills fans might find themselves waiting all day on a Sunday night. I think the Josh Allen vs. Patrick Mahomes showdown will end on Sunday Night Football, which has become known as the prime slot of the week.

It seems to meet all the expectations for programming a prime-time affair.

“What do we need to do to make you sit there and watch it for three hours? We need to make it compelling. We need to put the big, scripted games in the biggest windows, so fans get a chance to see the games that they want to see,” NFL vice president of broadcast Mike North said during an appearance on the Its Always Gameday in Buffalo podcast hosted by Sal Capaccio.

First, there are the star quarterbacks who are the same age and skill set as the NFL attempts to find the next Brady-Manning parallel. There’s the postseason revenge factor, with Kansas City knocking out Buffalo en route to the Super Bowl LVIII crown.

This is a naturally attractive matchup, and the odds for a competitive matchup are also high: the Bills have won the last three regular-season meetings while the Chiefs have postseason victories in three of the last four years.

“When Tom Brady was on the Patriots and Peyton Manning was on the Colts and the Colts and Patriots played each other every year, we kind of had a little rotation. It was Sunday night one year, CBS the next year. Sunday night one year, CBS the next, that’s all out the window now. Every game is an in-between game, no one is protecting anything in April and May,” North said.

It remains to be seen whether the Bills and Chiefs will land on SNF, but one thing is certain: the game will not be scheduled for a 1 p.m. Eastern time kickoff.

“If we took this Buffalo-Kansas City game and broadcast it on CBS at 1 p.m. Eastern in a window with eight other NFL games, and this game might only be available in 28, 29, 30 percent of the country, that’s not the best use of that asset,” North said. “This game belongs to our fans. We’re not doing our job if we put it in a place where as many fans as possible can’t see it.”

The official time slot will be known when the NFL reveals its 2024 schedule this month. May 9th is rumored to be a release date, but it wouldn’t be shocking if the league took an extra week and waited until May 16th.

“Our goal is always the second week of May. You have to leave just a little bit of room, just in case something happens in the draft that we want to react to and maybe adjust,” North said on the available podcast. on April 22. “Somewhere between May 10, 12 and 15 (date range).”