NFL Exec Mike North on Rams/Raiders’ Glut/Lack of Primetime Games Next Season

Two LA-region franchises got opposite slates in the 2026 schedule release. The Rams got a record-tying seven primetime standalone games. The Raiders got none.

NFL VP of broadcast planning Mike North came on the show and explained both.

The Raiders piece came first. Kirk Cousins under center, Fernando Mendoza waiting, new head coach, and what Tom called "a lot of good juice flowing through the Raiders facility." Yet zero primetime games for a big-name franchise.

North started with the obvious caveat.

"None of us know when or if Mendoza's going to see the field this year," North said. "Obviously Kirk Cousins is a competent quality quarterback in this league. He may well have them relevant."

His framing of the schedule's distribution is the line that mattered.

"You don't necessarily have to be on primetime to be on a lot of television screens," North said. "There's still 30 million people watching NFL football at 1:00 Eastern on a Sunday, and hopefully 35 or 40 million people watching at 4:00 on a Sunday."

The earned-it rule, he said, applies in primetime.

"We always say you play your way into primetime," North said. "You don't draft your way into primetime. You don't fire your coach into primetime. You play your way into primetime."

Flexible scheduling is the back door for any team that breaks out.

"If the Raiders have a better than we thought, unexpected season, that's what flexible scheduling is for down the stretch," North said. "Those last five, six weeks of the season. If they're having a good year, it's probably because Denver or the Chargers are not. If they're relevant, we'll find to get their games on national television down the stretch."

The Rams half of the conversation was the inverse. They did not make the Super Bowl, but they keep showing up in primetime.

"They're perennial playoff team," North said. "They have the league MVP. Superstars on both sides of the ball. They've earned it. We say you play your way into primetime. They've earned it."

The schedule alone made his job easy.

"What a schedule," North said. "Green Bay, a couple of San Fran, a Dallas. What are we supposed to do with those games? A Buffalo, a Philly. Those games have to find their way into big national windows. Those are the ones that the fans care about, and we're not doing our jobs if we bury them at 1:00."

He used a specific regret to make the point.

"If I have a regret, if there is such a thing, that Rams-Eagles game that you just flapped up there," North said. "Sunday at 1:00, we couldn't even find a primetime home for an Eagles-Rams game. That's an embarrassment of riches."

The Rams also volunteered for the new Wednesday Night Football slot before Thanksgiving.

"They definitely shot their hand up when we started talking about Wednesday night before Thanksgiving," North said. "They thought it would be a real fun event for them in that market. Fans turning out. Nobody's going to work the next day. Nobody's going to school the next day."

North made the closing argument for the experiment itself.

"Wednesday night before Thanksgiving is not a traditional television night," North said. "We may change that with games like this on Netflix. That was just the night that you hung out with all your high school buddies and college friends who are back at home. And now, guess what? You can still do it. We just go to the bar and go watch a football game."