NFL likely moves up season opener to avoid McCain speech conflict

WE'VE MOVED! Democratic Convention Watch is now at http://www.DemocraticConventionWatch.com

We were the first to break the story that there was a conflict between the NFL season opener and John McCain's acceptance speech. We were ridiculed in the comments, and our good friend, Neil Best of Newsday, called some of the options "ludicrous". Well one of those ludicrous options is likely going to happen:

The National Football League and NBC will likely move up the time of the league's September season opener so it won't conflict with presidential nominee John McCain's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.

Since 2002, the NFL has held its season opener on the first Thursday night after Labor Day. This year, the game runs smack into the final night of the convention, when McCain will officially accept the nomination and give a nationally televised speech from Minneapolis.

While the NFL has yet to announce its schedule for the 2008 season, it's apparently not going to shy away from having its season opener on the scheduled day, with the game likely featuring the Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

So, the NFL and NBC have agreed in principle to have the kickoff at 7 p.m. ET instead of the traditional 8:30 p.m. That would mean, except in the event of an overtime, that the game would end before NBC's expected one hour of convention coverage for the night.

The move comes with several risks, including a loss of audience since the game would start so early on the West Coast. Also, it could impact any pregame special or entertainment that the NFL or NBC could schedule. It would, though, give NBC News a strong lead-in to its convention coverage.
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The Republican National Convention has been on the NFL radar since it was announced for early September. "We've been talking with NBC Sports about this," an NFL spokesman said. - Reuters

I'll be rooting for lots of instant replays, a few time-consuming but ultimately minor injuries, and as much as I love the NY Giants, a tie game that goes the full overtime. If that happens, McCains audience would be unmeasurably small.

And if that happens, Democrats all over should thank the one man who ultimately caused this to happen.