“Why wouldn’t we test the ceiling? Why wouldn’t we take the Ferrari out of the garage?” Mike North, the NFL’s VP of Broadcast Planning, isn’t here to play checkers. With the 2025 schedule drop, the league’s throwing a Hail Mary straight into America’s living rooms, and Patrick Mahomes is the golden-armed quarterback of this primetime symphony. The Kansas City Chiefs’ seven primetime slots—tying an NFL record—aren’t just games; they’re cultural events, a gridiron Hamilton with Mahomes as the lead.

Let’s cut to the chase: Kansas City isn’t just a team; it’s a ‘vibe’. Mahomes, with his 15–2 record under the lights and a highlight reel that plays like a greatest hits album, isn’t just selling touchdowns—he’s selling history. The NFL knows this. That’s why they’ve slotted the Chiefs against heavyweight foes like the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving, a matchup North likens to “taking the Ferrari out of the garage.” Translation: This ain’t your aunt’s turkey-day nap time.

Primetime’s picasso and the art of schedule jujitsu

Scheduling isn’t math—it’s poetry. North’s crew juggles 272 games like a DJ mixing a platinum track. “Most years, you take the three or four or five best games off the list and you start to wonder if you’ve got enough left to feed the Sunday afternoon, the Sunday night, the Monday night, the Thursday night,” he says. But not in 2025.

“This year we felt like we had the depth, we had the inventory, we had the quality…” Translation? The NFL’s got filet mignon to spare. Still, not everyone’s dining in primetime. The Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, and New Orleans Saints? They’re stuck in the nosebleeds with zero primetime love. Meanwhile, Dallas (6 games) and Buffalo Bills (5) soak up the spotlight. It’s a hierarchy as old as the Lombardi Trophy: Win big, and the cameras follow.

The bold strategy came from Hans Schroeder, North reveals. “Hans Schroeder runs the scheduling team, who really kind of first had the idea… What could a Chiefs–Cowboys game do on Thanksgiving Day afternoon?” North laughed when he first heard it. “I of course told him, ‘No, that’s a terrible idea.’” But Schroeder was undeterred. “He went to David Buren from CBS, had a conversation, went to the commissioner, and everybody started to get pretty comfortable with the idea if we could see what the rest of the schedule would look like.”

What they saw? A buffet of matchups that practically sell themselves. “Hey, there’s a plenty good Sunday night, Monday night, Thursday night double header schedule in here, even with Chiefs–Cowboys on Thanksgiving,” North adds. “So we got comfortable with it and excited to see what it can do.”

The real test? The numbers. “Like you said, we get 42, 43 million for Cowboys–Commanders, Cowboys–Giants,” North notes. “We haven’t really hit, you know, struck gold with two teams playing that day, both with winning records and a good game. Last time was probably Cowboys–Raiders a few years ago, where it went in overtime. Like, it’s been a while.” Now, they want to raise the stakes. “What if we could push 48, 49, 50 million viewers for a regular season game?” It’s Madden-level audacity—like playing franchise mode with cheat codes. How has it usually performed?

Top 10 Most-Watched NFL Primetime Games (2024 Season)

1. Baltimore Ravens vs. Kansas City Chiefs
   Date: September 5, 2024
   Network: NBC
   Viewership: 29.2 million
   Notes: Season opener and rematch of the 2023 AFC Championship Game.

2. Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions
   Date: January 5, 2025
   Network: NBC
   Viewership: 28.5 million
   Notes: Sunday Night Football game determining the NFC’s #1 seed.

3. Miami Dolphins vs. Green Bay Packers
   Date: November 28, 2024 (Thanksgiving Night)
   Network: NBC
   Viewership: 26.1 million
   Notes: Part of the Thanksgiving Day tripleheader.

4. Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants
   Date: November 28, 2024 (Thanksgiving Day)
   Network: FOX
   Viewership: 38.8 million
   Notes: Thanksgiving Day game featuring a classic rivalry.

5. Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions
   Date: November 28, 2024 (Thanksgiving Day)
   Network: CBS
   Viewership: 37.5 million
   Notes: Early Thanksgiving Day game setting a viewership record.

6. Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills
   Date: November 17, 2024
   Network: CBS
   Viewership: 31.2 million
   Notes: Rematch of the 2023 AFC Divisional Game.

7. Cincinnati Bengals vs. Kansas City Chiefs
   Date: September 15, 2024
   Network: CBS
   Viewership: 27.9 million
   Notes: Regular season matchup between two AFC contenders.

8. Baltimore Ravens vs. Dallas Cowboys
   Date: September 22, 2024
   Network: FOX
   Viewership: 27.3 million
   Notes: Interconference game featuring two prominent teams.

9. Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers
   Date: October 20, 2024
   Network: FOX
   Viewership: 27.1 million
   Notes: Super Bowl LVIII rematch.

10. Green Bay Packers vs. Minnesota Vikings
    Date: December 29, 2024
    Network: FOX
    Viewership: 26.4 million
    Notes: NFC North rivalry game with playoff implications.

From Arrowhead to Hollywood: The Chiefs’ blockbuster season

Kansas City‘s 2025 slate reads like a Netflix top 10: Los Angeles Chargers (Week 1), New York Giants (Week 2), and a Christmas Day showdown vs. Denver Broncos. But the crown jewel? Thanksgiving at Jerry World. “Chiefs–Cowboys isn’t just a game,” North explains. “It’s two dynasties clashing over pumpkin pie.” This year, the Chiefs have SEVEN primetime games, including five in the first eight weeks. Both new records for a single team in any NFL season. A quick look at the list above tells us why.

The Chiefs pull in big audiences whenever and whoever they play. Plain and simple. Let’s not kid ourselves: This schedule is a love letter to Mahomes’ magic. The man’s thrown for 4,800 yards and 38 TDs in his last 17 primetime gigs—stats that’d make Cyberpunk 2077’s Johnny Silverhand drop his guitar. Whether he’s dissecting the Ravens’ defense or schooling the Broncos on Christmas, Mahomes isn’t just playing; he’s performing.

And the NFL’s betting billions on that performance. As North puts it: ‘The Chiefs have almost kind of surpassed the Cowboys as the bell cow.’ When the lights dim on Week 1, remember this: The NFL isn’t just selling football. They’re selling moments—Mahomes’ no-look passes, Travis Kelce’s endzone shimmies, and the collective gasp of 50 million fans. It’s a high-stakes poker game where the house always wins, and in 2025, the house is wearing red and gold.

So grab your popcorn, America. The Chiefs aren’t just on the schedule; they’re the main event. And as North reminds us, “We’re not just testing the ceiling—we’re rewriting it.” 🏈✨