Raiders Almost Had a Different Primetime Schedule

The Las Vegas Raiders-Kansas City Chiefs' rivalry is arguably the NFL's greatest.

Last week, it was revealed the two clubs would be facing off in what will be a much-anticipated Christmas Day showdown in the 2023 season, which adds quite a bit of spice to a rivalry that's been very one-sided in recent years.

As special as that slot is, there was another primetime window the showdown was considered for.

The Raiders were actually a finalist to play the Chiefs in the season opener, as opposed to the Detroit Lions, NFL executive Mike North revealed on Monday's episode of "The Adam Schefter Podcast."

"We looked at probably all of their [Kansas City's] home opponents at some point as potential kick-off game options, and there were good arguments literally for every single one," North said. "Honestly, when we started way back in February, there was definitely a school of thought that we should play Philly. The Super Bowl had just ended; what a fun game; let's keep going, right?

" ... As we ended up kind of thinking about some of the other home, or most of those home games, all of which are going to be great, the other one that really came down to the wire was Vegas. That was the kickoff game finalist that did not win."

North explained why the decision to go with Detroit might have gone the way it went.

"It's sort of an overall balance," North said. "I'll tell you the biggest differences were probably some of those tent-pole games. I think Detroit or Vegas would have been great for kickoff, but then it had to do with: 'All right, where does the rest of the NBC schedule go from here?' And I think this one they were holding kind of struck the balance we were looking for between: 'Hey let's get off to a fast start.' Everybody wants to be talking about ratings are up -- fixate 10 percent, if we can, through the first four or five weeks of the season. I feel like this NBC schedule gives Sunday Night Football a chance to do that."

The Raiders' offseason workout schedule is as follows:

OTA Offseason workouts: May 22-23, May 25, May 31-June 2, June 12-15

Mandatory Minicamp: June 6-8

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