Before Peter Schrager made a high-profile move to ESPN this spring, he spent years as one of the hosts of\u00a0Fox NFL Kickoff\u00a0early each Sunday morning.<\/p>\n
Batting leadoff ahead of the popular\u00a0Fox NFL Sunday with Terry Bradshaw and Co., Schrager helped draw pretty significant viewership as the only network pregame show on television in its window. But with the news that the league wants to eventually move toward a full 17-game package of overseas games, Schrager is worried that everything could change.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d have crazy ratings on our little Kickoff show that was before the big one, that was from 11-12 Eastern,\u201d Schrager explained this week in an appearance on\u00a0Pardon My Take<\/a>. \u201cBut when they would have these international games, nobody watched.\u201d<\/p>\n As the NFL has consistently proven while stealing Christmas Day from the NBA or even putting games exclusively on streaming platforms, people will go out of their way to watch football<\/a>. Especially when the only other option is a studio show.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019d rather watch any game than a pregame show talking about the other games,\u201d Schrager added.<\/p>\n \u201cSo you\u2019d go over to ESPN or NFL Network or wherever it was, and those games started at 9:30 Eastern. It\u2019s usually in the fourth quarter when the pregame show\u2019s going on. If you have 16 (international) games, my question is does that single-handedly cripple the idea of a Sunday pregame show? I feel like most fans, even if it\u2019s Jaguars-Titans or it\u2019s Saints-Bucs \u2026 you watch the game over hearing what the guys have to say about the games coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, there\u2019s a huge financial incentive for the NFL to keep expanding its international schedule. After experimenting in England, Germany, and Brazil over the years, the league is playing in Spain and Ireland this fall. Commissioner Roger Goodell has mentioned Asia as a potential game site as well.<\/p>\n