Get all of your rowdy friends over for some Wednesday night football.
The third postponement of the game between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers has resulted in the contest being scheduled for this Wednesday afternoon at 3:40PM EST.
According to ESPN this is because NBC wants to air the lighting of the Christmas Tree from Rockefeller Center ceremony at 8PM (story HERE).
The multiple changes for the game occurred after the Ravens experienced a COVID 19 outbreak last week. The game was originally supposed to be played on Thanksgiving night. It was then pushed to Sunday afternoon. Then Tuesday night. And now finally Wednesday afternoon.
The circumstances have resulted in a slew of changes to both Pittsburgh and Baltimore’s schedule and has also spread havoc to other teams as well, including the Denver Broncos, who had to play without a quarterback on Sunday, and the San Francisco 49ers, who will have to play their home games in Arizona after their community declared a ban on contact sports.
Both Baltimore and Pittsburgh have high hopes for the season. The Ravens are still in line for a Wild Card birth and the Steelers are undefeated and playing behind the energy of a rejuvenated Ben Roethlisberger.
From a ratings perspective, the decision to air the Christmas tree lighting over a possible prime time game is a puzzling one. NBC would have likely won the evening with more viewers watching an NFL football game over the Rockefeller Center ceremony.
NBC’s Sunday night game between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears easily won the ratings fight last night despite the game being a blow out (story HERE).