The full 2025 NFL schedule has been released, and for Commanders fans it marks a significant change to what we’ve become used to for a number of years. No longer the pariah of the NFL thanks to the change of ownership and the emergence of Jayden Daniels during last season’s epic run to the NFC Championship Game, the Commanders are suddenly cool! It’s like the 1980’s all over again!
However, with success comes attention, and that means a schedule that is no longer mostly comprised of the majority of games being 1pm Eastern kickoffs. 5 prime time games and a total of 8 ‘standalone’ games is the new reality for Commanders fans, which will potentially mean a few adjustments to the calendars of fans used to setting their watches by 1pm Eastern kickoffs.
2 Sunday Night Football, 2 Monday Night Football, 1 Thursday Night Football, Madrid, Christmas Day (also a Thursday), the Saturday week 16 Philly clash, plus three 4:25 Fox games give the Commanders the grand total of 5 guaranteed Sunday 1pm kickoffs! It’s a different world!
For European based Commanders fans the excitement of so many prime time and standalone games is somewhat tempered by the knowledge that they’ll be in for some very late nights in 2025! Prime time games in the US kickoff at 1:15/1:20am over here, generally with a finish time somewhere around 4:30am, so having 5 on the slate is going to make for some bleary-eyed mornings this autumn for UK/Irish Commanders fans. Sales of strong coffee may rocket, so for any investors out there look at the stock price of the likes of Nescafe, as fans will seek the support of additional caffeine to keep them going during the 2025 season!
If this piece seems like I’m complaining, I’m not really. When the NFL was first shown in the UK in the 80’s all we had was an hours highlights on a Sunday of the previous weeks games, and although things slowly improved it took years to get where we are now with access to every single game and a dedicated NFL channel. I used to spend my Sunday evenings listening to US Armed Forces Radio on my parents huge old wooden radio where the signal would fluctuate from reasonable to unrecognisable! I used to get taxi drivers, opera singers and even the odd police call when I was trying to listen to a game. One of my happiest memories is listening to Darrell Green break up the Vikings 4th down play at the goal line to clinch the 1987 NFC Championship Game at RFK. My parents thought that their 14 year old son had lost his mind as I shouted and danced around the house in celebration!
If a few late nights are the price of doing business at the top table of the NFL then it’s a price well worth paying. Years of mediocrity and absence from the bright lights, (other than the odd crumb thrown our way) were depressing and inevitably dampened the enthusiasm of even the most passionate fan. The bright new dawn of the past 12 months has woken the sleeping giant, and the news of the new stadium, hosting the draft in 2027 and the overall re-introduction to the national spotlight means that Commanders fans everywhere can’t wait to see the next chapter of what should be a bright future.
