Insider Look Into NFL’s Complex Scheduling Strategy That Predicts Viewer Behavior
The NFL is now utilizing highly advanced data analysis to determine the schedules that are created, taking into account things such as weather, streaming, economy, and the psychology of fans.
The NFL schedule release has become one of the biggest offseason news stories in the league. But for every primetime game or international battle, there is now a highly advanced and complex scheduling strategy that involves data from well beyond football. As the league prepares to announce the schedule for the regular season of 2026, the NFL will make heavy use of predictive analytics, looking at everything, including weather and streaming behavior.
Given the NFL's increased use of streaming services, its holiday games, and even its games abroad, maximizing TV audiences has been difficult in recent years. This problem, in turn, has driven the league further into advanced scheduling algorithms in conjunction with its analytics partner Recentive Analytics.
How NFL Uses Advanced Analytics To Predict Fan Behaviors Beyond Football
Recentive Analytics' founder Andy Tabrizi stated that their algorithms are purposefully more centered on what's happening outside football rather than the sport itself. “Where we really try to focus all of our efforts is everything that has nothing to do with the NFL,” said Tabrizi. “That may sound really strange to say when we're talking about forecasting NFL viewership, but the reason why our model is so accurate is that we've really been able to figure out the NFL as a function of everything else.”
The model considers data collected from over 1,200 sources and predicts how those events will affect viewer behavior during every NFL broadcast time slot. Such elements may be related to weather conditions, local sports events, costs for flights and Airbnbs, economic conditions, and other shifts in media consumption behavior. According to Andy Tabrizi, all these details contribute to determining whether the audience chooses to watch football or do something else instead.
NFL's Streaming Strategy Totally Redefines Schedule Strategy
Growing cooperation with online streaming services forces the NFL to adopt a much more holistic approach to scheduling, taking into account the impact of each game on all viewers instead of rating within its own window. For example, there are plans for a season record-breaking nine international games in 2026 that will take place on nine broadcasting platforms.
Despite concerns over oversaturation, the NFL still enjoys an increase in its audience figures. According to executives from the NFL, splitting the games into multiple slots brings even greater benefits.