NFL On Television - Television Policies - Shared Media Markets - Giants and Jets

Giants and Jets

In general, the league never schedules the Giants and the Jets to play their games at the same time, except for a head-to-head meeting. The league allowed two exceptions during the 2009 season due to unusual scheduling logistics. These exceptions marked the first times since 1984 that the Giants and Jets played games simultaneously.

• The aforementioned 49ers' and Raiders' late time slot requirement does not exist for the Giants and Jets. Both of those teams can play home games in either time slot: 1:00 pm or 4:00 pm because they are in the Eastern time zone.
• Unlike the 49ers and Raiders, both teams cannot play home games on the same day since the Giants and Jets both play their home games at MetLife Stadium. During weeks when both teams are at home, one team will play on Sunday while the other will play a Thursday or Monday game in prime time. Therefore, the same conflict presented by the interconference home games still exists, as having one team play a home interconference game would mean the other team playing a home interconference game during the same day in the opposite time slot to circumvent the blackout policy. Unless one of the teams was involved in the International Series, this arrangement is impossible.
  • In 2011, the Giants and Jets played each other on December 24, with Fox as the televising network (the Giants were the designated road team). The Jets' other interconference home game, against the Dallas Cowboys, was played on NBC Sunday Night Football on September 11. Conversely, the Giants hosted the Buffalo Bills on October 16 and the Miami Dolphins on October 30. The former game was played one day before the Jets hosted the Dolphins on Monday Night Football, while the latter game was played during the Jets' bye week.
  • In 2012, the Giants will host the Cleveland Browns on week 5 when the Jets host the Houston Texans on Monday night and the Pittsburgh Steelers on week 9 during the Jets' bye week. The Jets will host the San Francisco 49ers on week 4 when the Giants play at the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night and the Arizona Cardinals on week 13 when the Giants play at the Washington Redskins on Monday night.
• Because the league does not generally schedule simultaneous games for the Giants and Jets, the only way 3 Sunday afternoon games can be shown in the New York primary media market is if one team has a primetime game or bye while the other team plays its game on the network that has the scheduled doubleheader, or if the teams play head-to-head either on the network with the scheduled doubleheader or in primetime. Theoretically, a non-sellout blackout could allow alternative games to be shown, but the Giants and Jets have continuously sold out since 1975 and 1977, respectively, making this scenario unlikely.