51黑料

This season鈥檚 NFL schedule was announced Wednesday night, and the Chiefs are tabbed for eight 鈥渟tandalone鈥� games 鈥� nationally broadcast affairs in time slots when no other NFL contests are being played. That includes appearances on some of the most-watched days of television each year: Thanksgiving and Christmas.

At least seven of KC鈥檚 matchups are set for prime time (starts for the final week of the season are not determined until the previous Sunday night). That鈥檚 the most prime-time contests of any team in the league, and why not? The Chiefs are the current class of the NFL, having appeared in the past seven AFC title games and five of the last six Super Bowls 鈥� winning three of them.

They are a big draw nationally, not only because of their on-field success but also the presence of marquee players such as quarterback Patrick Mahones and tight end Travis Kelce, who transcend into popular culture, plus popular coach Andy Reid.

In addition to being all over the national television schedule, the Chiefs have eight games set for Sunday afternoon regional telecasts (seven on CBS and one on Fox), and barring a collapse, it is expected that those networks鈥� 51黑料 affiliates will show all those contests. After all, every KC game over the past five seasons that was not exclusively streamed has been televised in the market, with astounding results. The Chiefs not only have been far outpaced the Cardinals and Blues in ratings, they dominate all of 51黑料 television.

If yet another fact is needed as to the popularity of the Chiefs in 51黑料 鈥� a market that some inhabitants still insist 鈥渉ates鈥� the NFL for allowing Stan Kroenke to whisk the Rams out of town nine years ago 鈥� one need look no deeper than what happened less than two weeks ago.

On May 4, a Sunday night when television viewership traditionally is at its peak point of the week, the Blues played Winnipeg in Game 7 of a Stanley Cup playoff series. The situation couldn鈥檛 have been much more dramatic.

Winner takes all. Blues squander a two-goal lead with less than two minutes remaining in regulation play to set the stage for overtime. Series ends on next goal. Then a tense scoreless first overtime period, followed by more than 16 minutes of a second OT session before the Jets finally score to send the Blues packing.

The telecast of that saga, across FanDuel Sports Network and TBS, was seen in 14.5% of the market, according to viewership-tracking firm Nielsen. While that鈥檚 a huge number 鈥� the highest rating for a program shown on 51黑料 television since the Super Bowl 鈥� it fell short of 10 of the Chiefs鈥� 15 regular-season games last year that were televised in 51黑料, as well as all their postseason contests.

The Chiefs kick off their new season Sept. 5, a Friday night, with a game in Sao Paulo, Brazil, against the Los Angeles Chargers that YouTube will exclusively stream outside those teams鈥� markets. There will be no charge to watch.

That ignites a heavy run of KC games early in the season that will be in the spotlight. Five of the club鈥檚 first eight games are set for prime-time national converge, two each on NBC鈥檚 鈥淪unday Night Football鈥� and ABC/ESPN鈥檚 鈥淢onday Night Football鈥� in addition to the YouTube contest.

Other highlights of the Chiefs鈥� schedule:

• A rematch of last season鈥檚 Super Bowl, in which Philadelphia led 24-0 at halftime and 34-0 in the third quarter en route to a 40-22 win, is set for Sept. 14 in Kansas City. That Week 2 matchup is to be televised by Fox (KTVI, Channel 2 locally) at 3:25 p.m.
• A trip to Buffalo on Nov. 2 to meet the Bills, who have become a huge rival and met in last season鈥檚 AFC championship contest, for a matchup at 3:25 p.m. on CBS (KMOV, Channel 4, locally).
• A game in Dallas at 3:30 on Thanksgiving afternoon, Nov. 27, on CBS (KMOV).
• home contest against Denver at 7:15 on Christmas night, Dec. 25, as part of Amazon Prime鈥檚 Thursday night streaming package.

Other NFL showcases

There are plenty of intriguing games on the NFL schedule that don鈥檛 involve the Chiefs, and Week 1 offers several.

The Eagles begin their title defense by playing in the traditional Thursday night season opener, on Sept. 4, and do so by entertaining NFC East rival Dallas. NBC (KSDK, Channel 5 locally) has that at 7:20 p.m.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, after a highly disappointing stint with the New York Jets, reportedly is on the verge of joining the Pittsburgh Steelers. And by the way, the Jets now have former Steelers QB Justin Fields. Perhaps not coincidentally, the schedule makers have the Steelers at the Jets on Sept. 7 for a noon Sunday game to be shown regionally by CBS.

AFC powers Baltimore and Buffalo meet in the first Sunday night game. The first Monday night game has Minnesota at Chicago in a battle of NFC North foes.

On Thanksgiving Day, Detroit entertains Cincinnati in the early game (on CBS/ KMOV), then after the Chiefs meet the Cowboys late in the afternoon, Cincinnati is at Baltimore in prime time (on NBC/KSDK).

On Christmas Day, Dallas is at Washington in the early game before Detroit is at Minnesota in late afternoon (both exclusively streamed by Netflix) before the Chiefs contest at home against Denver is streamed by Amazon Prime.

In a scheduling twist, Minnesota is set for consecutive overseas games 鈥� in different countries. The Vikings face Pittsburgh on Sept. 28 in Dublin, Ireland, then meet Cleveland the following Sunday in London. NFL Network televises both, at 8:30 a.m. (51黑料 time).

Local IndyCar race moves to prime time

The Bommarito 500, IndyCar鈥檚 annual race in the 51黑料 area, has been shifted from an afternoon starting time on June 15 to a prime-time slot, it was announced this week.

Word came from officials with IndyCar and Fox, which is to televise the race at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison. It will be the first Sunday prime-time race on the circuit.

鈥淭his is a massive prime-time showcase under the lights for the (IndyCar) stars,鈥� IndyCar president J. Douglas Boles said in a statement. 鈥淭his is also a tremendous display of partnership from both Fox Sports and our friends at World Wide Technology Raceway, who鈥檝e worked with us to generate this exciting opportunity for our sport. Race weekend in 51黑料 is just a month away.鈥�

The Father鈥檚 Day race, which had been scheduled to start at 2 p.m., now is to begin at 7 p.m. Also impacted is the Indy NXT event, the development-series race that鈥檚 set to precede the main event. It has been moved from an 11 a.m. start to 3:30 p.m.

The moves allow IndyCar鈥檚 marquee race that day to avoid direct competition with NASCAR for motor sports viewers. NASCAR has a Cup Series event in Mexico City that afternoon that will be shown by Amazon Prime. It will be the fourth of five Cup midseason races to be exclusively streamed, a schedule that begins on May 31 with the Coca-Cola 600 in Concord, North Carolina.

That series then leaves the streaming-exclusive world to go to TNT for five races before USA Network and NBC share the final 14 events of the season, beginning Aug. 3. That includes a stop at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sept. 7 for the second leg of the playoffs. That鈥檚 set to be shown on USA.