Blackout Lifted

NFL Schedule Release Now a Televised Event

Written by Synergy Legal, Inc. on 12:06 PM

The NFL has announced that it will release its full-season 2009 schedule on Tuesday April 14. To boost the profile of its own media properties, the league will make the schedule release a 2-hour primetime spectacle, complete with a naming rights sponsor, on the NFL Network beginning at 7pm ET. Here's more on the NFL Total Access: 2009 Schedule Release Presented by GMC Sierra

NFL Network's NFL Total Access: 2009 Schedule Release will feature host Rich Eisen and in-studio analysts, Steve Mariucci, Marshall Faulk, Brian Billick, Jamie Dukes, Solomon Wilcots, and former Bucs general manager Bruce Allen, plus other special guests including former Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson.

Reporters will be spread across the country to get reaction. NFL Network reporters will be in Boston to get fan reaction on the Patriots' schedule as Tom Brady returns from his injury, in Philadelphia for the announcement of the first regular season opponent McNabb will face without defensive leader Brian Dawkins, in Chicago for comments on Jay Cutler's debut as he changes conferences, and in Denver to talk about the new season under Josh McDaniels.

The special includes a look at the making of the schedule, plus interviews with head coaches and GMs on how it affects their planning and preparation. Players also will also be interviewed and the top games will be debated.

For those without access to the NFL Network, or if you have no interest in the talking heads and just want to see your favorite teams schedule, you'll want to go to NFL.com to get the first look. The league's website will be the first to release the schedule online, also at 7pm ET Tuesday. The website will also have several other features related to the schedule release.

NFL.com will be the first site to have the complete team-by-team and weekly schedules of all 256 regular-season games, listing opponents, sites and times. NFL.com will feature interactive components by giving fans a voice through chats, fan forums and poll questions.

Other features on the website will include analysis by NFL.com reporters and breakdowns of the division schedules. NFL.com will include which games will be on CBS, ESPN, FOX, NBC and NFL Network. There will also be printer-friendly versions of the team-by-team and week-by-week schedules.