The NFL is set to release its 2024 schedule next Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. While we already know all of the games, we don’t know when. Constructing the NFL schedule is one of the most complex tasks the league has to complete. Among a whole host of factors the league must consider, they may very well have one more added to the list in 2024 — Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour.
Taylor Swift’s Potential Impact on the 2024 NFL Schedule
Just about every NFL stadium was built for the purpose of playing football. However, these stadiums are all used for various other events when football is not taking place. Sometimes, there will be conflicts.
With Swift returning to the United States for The Eras Tour this fall, some stadiums are booked on days when the NFL could otherwise schedule a football game.
In reviewing Swift’s tour calendar, there are three weeks the NFL undoubtedly had to account for the megastar’s schedule in preparing its own:
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- Much like LeBron James in 2010, Swift will be taking her talents to South Beach from Friday, Oct. 18 through Sunday, Oct. 20. It’s safe to say the Miami Dolphins will not be playing a home game that Sunday.
If you haven’t seen what it looks like to construct the set for Swift at a football stadium, check out the video below.
Preparing a stadium for a lesser concert would be quite the undertaking in itself. The production involved in Swift’s show is as big as it gets.
It would be asking a lot for a stadium crew to either construct this within 24 hours or dismantle it and reconstruct the football field within a similar timeframe. That makes a Thursday night or Monday night game unlikely. Dolphins fans can expect a road game (or a bye) in Week 7.
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- Swift will be traveling to New Orleans for three dates from Friday, Oct. 25 through Sunday, Oct. 27. Similarly, the Saints will almost certainly be on the road or on bye in Week 8.
- Swift will perform in Indianapolis from Friday, Nov. 1 through Sunday, Nov. 3. Much like the Dolphins and Saints, the Colts can expect to play away from home in Week 9, or not at all.
The process of crafting the NFL schedule is already so challenging that the league doesn’t even know exactly when it will be ready until a week or two before the release date.
Having to navigate additional hurdles like weekend concerts from the biggest music star on the planet adds another set of factors the league must wade through. As always, though, the NFL makes it work.
In just a few short days, we will know exactly when and where every team will play for the 18-week season. Somehow, some way, the NFL’s scheduling algorithm can process every possible input and produce a schedule without any hiccups.
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It will be interesting to see if the NFL finds a way to schedule home games for any of the three teams mentioned above on the weeks when Swift is in town, as well as find out how many of the other scheduling rumors turn out to be accurate.