NFL Awards Thursday Contract To CBS

Thursday Night Football is coming to CBS this year.  According to this Associated Press article NFL fans will get to hear Nantz and Simms the first 8 weeks of the season.

CBS will air the games during the first eight weeks of the season with its top broadcast team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms, simulcasting them with the NFL Network. The league’s cable network will show six Thursday night games alone later in the season, produced by CBS with Nantz and Simms also in the booth. Included in the deal is two Saturday games, but it is unclear whether they will be on CBS or the NFL Network.

The NFL said the contract is for one year, and the league has an option to extend it for 2015. Financial terms were not disclosed.

CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox and Turner were all interested in the NFL’s Thursday night package. Live television events like sports and awards shows are increasingly important for broadcasters as the audience fragments for traditional fare, and football games are the most dependable ratings-grabbers. Sunday’s Super Bowl, with 112.2 million viewers, set a record as the most-watched program in U.S. television history.

The NFL schedule is usually released in April and here are the NY Jets 2014 Opponents.