NFL Adds Monday Night to Wild Card Weekend

NFL Adds Monday Night to Wild Card Weekend
The NFL logo is displayed on the field at the Bank of American Stadium before an NFL football game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, N.C., on Nov. 4, 2018. Nell Redmond/AP Photo
The Associated Press
Updated:

NEW YORK—The NFL is adding Monday night to its Wild Card Weekend.

The league announced Friday that it will play one of its first six playoff games on Monday night, beginning with this season.

The NFL added a third wild-card team in each conference last season, and then played three wild-card games on Saturday and three on Sunday during its first weekend of the playoffs.

The new schedule means the league will play two games on Saturday (4:35 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. ET), three on Sunday (1:05 p.m., 4:40 p.m., and 8:15 p.m. ET), and one on Monday (8:15 p.m. ET). Wild Card Weekend for this postseason runs from Jan. 15—17.

The team with the best record in each conference is the only one to receive a bye for the first weekend of the playoffs.

The NFL said the broadcaster for the Monday night game “is yet to be determined.” For the 2021 season, CBS and NBC each will broadcast two wild-card games, while Fox and ESPN/ABC each get one.