Presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will face each other on the debate stage for the first time Tuesday night in Philadelphia. But unlike in recent elections, the White House hopefuls likely won’t have to also go head-to-head against the incumbent NFL in their path to Pennsylvania Avenue this fall.
For the first time since before the NFL schedule expanded to include a full season of Thursday night games in 2012, no presidential or vice presidential debates are currently slated to air concurrently with primetime football action.
Following Tuesday’s presidential debate, VP candidates J.D. Vance and Tim Walz will square off on another Tuesday—Oct. 1. Harris’ and Trump’s camps, meanwhile, have discussed an additional debate date before the Tuesday, Nov. 5 election date, but given the former President’s previous complaints about battling football for ratings, he likely will steer clear of Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays, if possible.
In 2016, Trump and Hillary Clinton sparred on Monday, Sep. 26, while the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints faced off on the gridiron on Monday Night Football. The presidential candidates garnered a record-breaking TV audience of more than 84 million despite the added competition from the NFL.
“We’d obviously wish the debate commission could find another night,” an NFL spokesperson said in 2016.
A second Trump-Clinton showdown came on Sunday, Oct. 9, even as the Green Bay Packers—from what would turn out to be the pivotal state of Wisconsin—played the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football.
“I’ll tell you what I don’t like,” Trump said in 2016 of the debate schedule, “It’s against two NFL games.”
In 2020, Trump and President Joe Biden debated on Thursday, Oct. 22, even as potential swing voters in Pennsylvania watched the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants instead.
Politics accounted for four of the top 10 most watched broadcasts that year, with the NFL sweeping the rest.
“There’s room for both,” Fox president, insights and analytics Michael Mulvihill said in 2020.
2012 saw a Monday night presidential debate and a Thursday night VP affair.
Over the intervening years, the NFL’s gravitational pull has grown ever larger. According to Nielsen ratings, the league put on 93 of 2023’s 100 most-watched TV broadcasts. Political programming netted just one spot on the list, for the State of the Union Address. It came in behind 20 NFL games.
So far, the NFL isn’t showing signs of an election-induced ratings decline this year either.
Meanwhile, the Democrat and Republican campaigns in 2024 have sidelined the nonprofit Commission on Presidential Debates that previously scheduled the events.
The CPD still put out a proposed schedule for the 2024 election cycle though. Had candidates agreed to it, they would be debating next Monday night, while two teams from battleground states—the Eagles and the Atlanta Falcons—do business on ESPN.