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Tom Brady's impact on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the league, in general, is very well-known. Perhaps what is not as evident is his impact on TV ratings, viewership and the how the NFL schedule is created.
NFL schedule maker Mike North recently spoke about how Tom Brady's return to football (after a 41-day retirement) impacts the way the schedule is created. Here's what North had to say:
“Honestly, when we started the process, he was retired. Tampa had a lot of really good games. They play Dallas, they play L.A., and they play Kansas City. We were going to do something about those games, anyway. Each of these 272 games is an asset. They’re an asset for our fans. They’re not our assets...we're just a couple of drones from Sector 7G. These are our fans’ assets, and we want them to be able to access them in a way that they get to see all the must-see TV."
North continued to expound on setting up the NFL schedule:
"You joked about it. If we put the KC game in the one o'clock window on CBS (available in 14% of the country while eight other games were going on), we're not doing our jobs. So all those Tampa Bay games were really good football games, and we would have done something with Kansas City. When Tom unretired, the value of these assets rose. So now, we have to rethink and say, ‘All right, how many were we going to put in primetime, and where during the season? And do you want to do it early or do it late?’” - Mike North
Thankfully, for fans of the Buccaneers, the seven-time Super Bowl champion is back in the league, and their team is in primetime for five games in the upcoming season.
Are the Buccaneers under pressure to win another Super Bowl for Tom Brady?
The news came earlier in the week that Tom Brady will be joining FOX Broadcast as an analyst once his career has concluded. It has been reported that the three-time NFL MVP has negotiated a 10-year, $375 million deal with FOX for the analyst position.
With this information, is it possible that the Buccaneers are feeling the heat to win yet another Super Bowl for their fearless leader before he decides to call it quits? As it stands, the Buccaneers do not have a succession plan in place when TB12 decides to hang up the cleats.
Former head coach Bruce Arians was able to grab his lone Lombardi Trophy with Brady, so perhaps, there is a bit of pressure to win one for new head coach Todd Bowles, who is taking over after three years as the team's defensive coordinator.
Tampa starts their season with the Dallas Cowboys in the opener and will surely have their work cut out for them as their next three games are against the New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs.
Despite having a brutal opening schedule, the team still has Super Bowl aspirations with Tom Brady at quarterback.
