The Denver Broncos were featured in the NFL's first-ever Thursday Night Football flex last season when their Week 16 game against the Los Angeles Chargers was moved from a Sunday afternoon to a Thursday evening window with a four-week heads up.
Despite a nearly one-month warning, the flex received backlash from fans and pundits. Amy Trask, a former Raiders CEO, called for the league to refund fans who could not attend the game following the flex. Some fans had nonrefundable flights and hotels and criticised the NFL for moving the game by three days.
The NFL did not hand out any refunds in 2024 as complaints were completely ignored. Now the league is doubling down and making the flex window even smaller.
The NFL has changed the window to 21 days for a TNF flex announcement. Fortunately, the league won't flex more than two games to TNF per season, and only games between Weeks 13-17 are eligible for a TNF flex.
Broncos coach Sean Payton shrugged off the team's TNF flex last season.
"Just tell us when we're playing," Payton said in 2024. "It's fine. All good."
Denver's 2024 opponents are already set, but the dates and times for those matchups won't be announced until the NFL's full schedule is announced in May. The Broncos had two initially-scheduled primetime games last year, then they were flexed into two more. The NFL's limit for initially-scheduled primetime games is six per team.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Denver Broncos: NFL ignores 'TNF' flex backlash, shortens window
