NFL turned down big schedule request from Bengals

It’s not often that a specific NFL team volunteers to be a guinea pig for an aspect of the regular-season schedule, but that is precisely what the Cincinnati Bengals did prior to the 2023 schedule release.

NFL vice president of broadcast planning Mike North revealed Friday that the Bengals volunteered to play in the league’s first Black Friday game. The Bengals were eager to make playing on Black Friday a tradition, but the NFL decided to go in a different direction.

“The Cincinnati Bengals raised their hand, they put their hand up and said, you know what, we’re interested in Black Friday not just in 2023, but how about as a tradition? We play in Dallas and Detroit on Thanksgiving every year, how about playing in Cincinnati on Black Friday every year?” North told Adam Schein on SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio.

North admitted that the league considered pitting the Bengals against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but ultimately opted to put the game in New York.

Credit to the Bengals for trying to carve out their own tradition. One would not expect teams to be eager to volunteer for something like this, but they did, even if they did not get the nod.