The NFL considered more than 26,000 factors when developing its 2024 regular season schedule.
Competitive fairness, prime-time allocation, stadium availability and more determined the final combination of more than 1 trillion options, according to league data.
“This is an incredibly difficult puzzle,” said Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president and chief operating officer. “How we solve for equality of competition, all media partners, team elements, travel, how we solve for more windows and more continents as we play more. You’re probably thinking about that.
“The most important thing is how do we create the best schedule for our fans?”
But those 26,000-plus elements didn’t include data points that Taylor Swift’s power fan base quickly identified.
The NFL claims it did not take into account the superstar’s concert’s proximity to a Kansas City Chiefs game featuring his girlfriend, Travis Kelce.
Beyond the actual stadium collision, the NFL said Swift was not included in the code.
“We have certainly considered tour dates that visit NFL stadiums,” league vice president of broadcast planning Mike North said Thursday on a conference call with reporters. “I think she’s in Miami, maybe New Orleans, Indy. We certainly took those into consideration. One thing we didn’t take into account was midseason, right when Taylor played in Toronto. While I was doing that, I saw a lot of conspiracy theorists in Buffalo talking about Kansas City.
“That definitely didn’t hit our radar screen.”
The Bills will host the Chiefs on Sunday, November 17th at 4:25 p.m. ET at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York.
Swift is scheduled to perform in Toronto on Nov. 14, 15 and 16 before the Buffalo game, and again on Nov. 21, 22 and 23 afterward.
The Bills’ stadium is 111 miles by road from Rogers Center Arena, where Swift will perform.
Swift’s appeal and the Chiefs’ tremendous success have generated significant interest from broadcast partners for the two-time Super Bowl champions, league executives said.
“The Chiefs are a Cowboys-level asset right now when it comes to funding Chiefs games,” North said.
