Eric Winston wonders if NFL is maxing out revenue on Thursday nights

Texans tackle Eric Winston doesn’t think that adding two games to the regular season is the best way for the NFL to grow revenue.

He understands how important television contracts are for the league, and wonders if adding playoff games or changing the league’s Thursday night package would be a better way to go.

“If you are the NFL and we are looking for new revenue, why don’t we bid out the Thursday night game?” Winston asked.  “Thursday is supposed to be the most popular night for everyone to watch TV.  They have a game that has become more and more popular.

“Maybe some of these other networks would like to get into NFL football.  I guarantee that game would bring in more than $500 million alone just from playing half a season.”

It’s a terrific point by Winston and one we haven’t heard before.   (It’s also one that will make the league feel uncomfortable.)

We understand the business strategy of putting Thursday Night Football on NFL Network.  But five years after the package was awarded, it’s still not shown in New York City or on other cable packages.

Think about that for a second: The most popular television property in the country — the NFL — is aired on the most popular television night of the week, and parts of the country still can’t see it?

Television, like football, is a results business.  Every year that the NFL passes up money to keep a television package that isn’t shown nationwide is a failure.   The man in charge of that failure is the league’s highest paid employee.

I love the quality of NFL Network in general — it’s a great product.  But they have run out of time to reasonably blame Time Warner or anyone else for not being able to get better distribution.

It’s like a coach blaming a bad call or injuries for a costly loss.  It’s an excuse.

It has been widely assumed that, once a lockout commences, players will organize informal workouts in order to stay ready for football.

But here’s the problem, as pointed out today by Eric Winston of the Houston Texans.  If a player suffers a serious injury while working out on his own, he can be placed on the non-football injury list once the lockout ends — and not paid a dime for the 2011 season.

Coupled with the fact that plenty of players won’t want to do anything to help the NFL field a watchable product absent a full slate of offseason workouts and minicamps and training camp, it looks like player-conducted practices could be the exception, not the rule.

That said, some teams could try to make it known to players on a wink-nod basis that any injuries suffered while working out on their own will be covered, and that players won’t be frozen out of their salary.  Such an approach would provide players with a blank check for attempting to get paid after getting hurt by doing something other than working out.

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(profootballtalk.com)