{"id":647070,"date":"2026-05-16T17:15:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T17:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/647070\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T17:15:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T17:15:26","slug":"rich-eisen-addresses-nfl-network-losing-its-schedule-release-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/647070\/","title":{"rendered":"Rich Eisen addresses NFL Network losing its schedule-release show"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was more than a little jarring to those on the outside to dial up NFL Network on Thursday night and to find ESPN\u2019s schedule-release show<\/a>. It was at least a little jarring to those on the inside.<\/p>\n

Appearing Friday on The Dan Patrick Show, NFL Network\u2019s Rich Eisen \u2014 who in the past had hosted the NFLN schedule-release special \u2014 addressed the current situation at the network formerly owned and operated by the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe games are still on NFL Network, there\u2019s seven of them,\u201d Eisen said, via Brandon Contes of Awful Announcing. \u201cFive international and two others. I have been told Sunday NFL GameDay Morning that I\u2019m hosting is the same, and so is the [Scouting] Combine and the draft. We\u2019re still going to have the Combine, and we\u2019re still going to have the draft. The rest of it, I mean, we didn\u2019t have a schedule-release show for the first time in years. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s an indication<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given that ESPN took the reins of NFL Network less than two months ago, anything is an indication. Everything is an indication. All developments are data points as to something that will be not a revolution but an evolution.<\/p>\n

It would be foolish for ESPN to make dramatic, immediate changes. The shifts will come slowly and gradually. The adjustment will play out over months and years, not days and weeks.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, there will be business decisions influenced by a variety of executives. It\u2019s not only about programming choices and audience expectations. At some point, the bean counters will, you know, count beans. Why spend the money for two different productions to be televised by two different networks when one production can be played on two platforms?<\/p>\n

It applies at the macro level, regarding the number of shows produced, and at the micro level, regarding the number of employees that emerge from the merger of NFL Network into the ESPN universe. Some (like Ian Rapoport) will stay when their contracts expire. Some will go. <\/p>\n

Over time, a new reality will emerge. For now, there are two key data points as to programming. One, NFL Network had its own sprawling three-day presentation of the draft. Two, NFL Network did not have its own two-hour schedule release show.<\/p>\n

Other data points will emerge, one at a time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was more than a little jarring to those on the outside to dial up NFL Network on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-647070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}