Donald Trump
Sep 11, 2025; Arlington, VA, USA; President Donald Trump speaks at a memorial event at the Pentagon on the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2025, in Arlington, VA. Mandatory Credit: Jack Gruber-USA TODAY via Imagn Images
This week, United States President Donald Trump is speaking at the Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas, undeniably hoping to capture America’s attention before the midterm elections later this fall. However, he faces a pretty significant problem: the NFL.
The events are slated for Wednesday and Thursday night in Dallas, which means that Trump and the Republicans will be competing with two NFL games for America’s attention. And that’s not a battle politicians usually win.
Convention Clashes With NFL
Trump and the Republicans might have thought they were safe from much competition when they scheduled the convention for a Wednesday and Thursday in September. Unfortunately, that’s not the case at all, as the convention directly clashes with the first two NFL games of the season, which are always highly anticipated and heavily watched.
On Wednesday night, the New England Patriots took on the Seattle Seahawks in a rematch of the most recent Super Bowl. On Thursday night, the Super Bowl favorite Los Angeles Rams are set to take on the San Francisco 49ers in Australia in a primetime showdown.
They are two high-profile games that are expected to generate massive audiences. And they’re also taking place at the exact time as Trump’s convention.
‘It almost seems like a scheduling mistake’
The scheduling conflict with the NFL is certainly not ideal for Trump and Republicans, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was asked about what felt like a “mistake” on Wednesday.
“I haven’t heard a good answer or an explanation for this,” said Rob Finnery of Newsmax. “It almost seems like a scheduling mistake.”
“Well, I don’t think it is a mistake. We had a limited number of days on the calendar where we could do this. The timing is important because it’s close enough to the election to make a difference, but it’s also before early voting begins nationwide. So the dates are pretty strategic.”
Johnson went on to downplay any impact that the NFL games will have on viewership, falsely claiming that Wednesday night’s game between the Patriots and Seahawks was exclusively on streaming and behind a paywall, which was not the case.
“I know there will be a lot of eyeballs on the convention and what’s happening here,” he said before adding that even if people didn’t watch, the clips from the event will be used in political advertising throughout election season.
Still, it’s not wise to go against the NFL when you’re fighting for America’s attention.
Francis Tiafoe
Francis Tiafoe
LSU Tigers helmet
LSU Tigers helmet