Bucs one of 24 teams to vote ‘yes’ on new Thursday Night Football flex scheduling

Under the new vote, the Bucs would be eligible to get a Sunday afternoon game flexed to Thursday from Week 13-17 if the league saw fit to do so.

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The NFL is making a change to Thursday Night Football.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Monday that NFL owners voted in favor of allowing Thursday Night Football games to be flexed from Week 13-17. The vote went 24-8 in favor, with every NFC South team — including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — voting in favor.

The rule allows the league to flex a team playing a Sunday afternoon game into Thursday Night Football from Week 13-17. The league must give the team 28 days’ notice before it does so, and teams can only play on Thursday Night Football twice. That means teams that already play on Thursday Night Football twice, like the Chicago Bears, are exempt from this flex.

The rule is only approved for the 2023 season. If no flexes occur, it will roll over to 2024.

The Bucs play the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football in Week 8. As a result, the league could flex one of their Sunday afternoon games (of which the team has many) if they saw the need to. Players typically are not fond of Thursday Night Football games due to the toll they take on the short week, so it could be interesting to see how this change could affect the season closer to the playoffs.