How is the NFL schedule made? Inside League's process to finalize matchups every year

One of the most important offseason events is the unveiling of the NFL schedule. Fans eagerly await the release of the schedules, even though they are frequently made public months before the first kickoff, so they can start planning for the upcoming season and watch their favorite teams compete for the Super Bowl.

There are 272 games in the NFL regular season, which are spread across 18 weeks. That makes the task of creating the regular season schedule extremely difficult. Let's examine the elements that go into creating the regular season schedule:

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Exploring the factors that contribute to the NFL schedule-making

The full 272-game 2024 regular season schedule will be made public by 8 p.m. on Wednesday. It will display which games will be on during prime time as well as the start times of each game.

There are four teams in each of the AFC East, AFC West, AFC North, AFC South, NFC East, NFC West, NFC North and NFC South, for a total of eight divisions spread across two conferences in the NFL. Every team in each division plays every other team twice, once at home and once away.

In 2024, for instance, teams in the AFC West will face teams in the AFC North. Therefore, the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns, as well as other clubs in their division, are 10 of the opponents the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs will face this season.

These matchups are usually known in advance because of the rotational system the NFL uses.

Every team also plays four games against a different conference division. The Chiefs, to use them once more as an example, will play the NFC South this year as part of the league's yearly inter-conference schedule. That means the Chiefs now have the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on their schedule.

The league also arranges for teams to play against other conference teams that finished in the same position in their respective divisions. The NFL matches top teams against top teams from the previous season, second-place teams against second-place teams, and so on to maintain fairness and fiercer competition. That means the AFC West champion Chiefs will face the Buffalo Bills (first in the AFC East) and Houston Texans (first in the AFC South).

The 17th regular season game is frequently determined in a similar way. In 2024, each AFC West team will play other NFC West teams that finished in the same spot as them. That means the Chiefs will take on the NFC West champions San Francisco 49ers in 2024.