The NFL is evolving, as the 17th regular-season game added in 2021 marked one of the biggest changes of the 21st century, and former Philadelphia Eagles star Jason Kelce has some thoughts on it.
As more money circulates through the league, corporate demands grow proportionately; however, Kelce wants the NFL to keep its focus on people, not businesses.
Jason Kelce Worries NFL Is Losing the ‘Institution’ of Sunday Football
The NFL generated $23 billion in annual revenue, making it the US’s biggest sports league. As such, there’s plenty of money to be made in the sport, as reflected in its historical growth.
While the 17th regular-season game was said to be for competitive purposes, the financial benefits for teams and companies across the league are arguably greater.
While Sunday is known as the biggest football day of the week, many games have been added to other days. Kelce, for one, worries that the NFL is losing its core tradition of Sunday football.
“Sunday is the day of football,” he said on the “New Height” podcast. “Outside of going to church in the morning, if you’re still religious and you do that, Sunday is when so many games happen, and that’s how you grow up. You gear your entire week around watching football on Sunday. It’s an institution at this point — the NFL playing games on Sunday.”
Fans have grown accustomed to how the league has been operating over the last few decades. Every game week opens with Thursday Night Football on primetime national television. Then the biggest slate of games takes place on Sunday, spread between the early afternoon, late afternoon, and primetime.
Jason Kelce says he’s worried the NFL is slowly drifting away from the Sunday football tradition fans grew up on, via @newheightshow:
“Sunday is the NFL, and everybody sets their week around tuning in to the games happening on Sunday. I worry that we’re getting away from that… pic.twitter.com/k6fo9qgjzv
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) May 25, 2026
However, by now, Saturday has also seen several regular-season games, adding to Kelce’s worries.
“With every day that we keep adding in there, we’re getting away from that just a little bit,” he added. “I think one of the reasons [football] got so popular and big was because all of the games — it was an event; Sunday is the NFL. And everyone sets their weeks apart to tune in to their games on Sunday… I worry that we’re getting away from that just a little bit.”
College football is famous for being played on Saturdays, with students across the country selling out stadiums to support their schools. The NFL, however, seems to disregard customary scheduling practices.
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How games are spaced across a week not only impacts NFL culture but also influences how teams prepare.
Whether the league acknowledges sentimental fans and players’ calls remains to be seen.