A key individual in the NFL’s media operation is retiring this May.
Howard Katz, who has spearheaded the creation of the NFL schedule for most of the last 20 years, will retire after the upcoming season’s schedule is made official in May. The news was first reported by Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal.
Katz has played a crucial role in the development of the NFL’s modern-day scheduling practices. Per Fischer, “He’s the person every team and network lobbies before the schedule is released each spring and the person they complain to after it’s released.”
As the league has added more television partners, and technology began to play a bigger role in schedule-building, Katz’ job grew even more complicated. “The key was to be fair and equitable, and know at the end of the day, you could look someone in the eye and say you did the best we could,” he told Sports Business Journal.
The job of making the NFL schedule is a 24/7/365 endeavor. Not only was Katz tending to the desires of 32 franchises who all wanted different things, but he had to juggle the demands of television partners and contractual obligations. And in recent years, the expansion of flex scheduling has added an entirely new dimension into Katz’ job.
If Howard Katz had to highlight one accomplishment from his career in the NFL, it’d be playing the entire 2020 NFL season during the COVID pandemic without cancelling a single game. “Getting every game played in the COVID season is probably the most remarkable accomplishment I’ve been part of,” Katz told SBJ. “We played every day of the week, in that season. Literally every single day of the week. The fact we got every game played is just an incredible testament to Roger Goodell, and all the football operations team, and the scheduling people. Everyone who played a part in that should be really proud.”
It’s unclear who will take the reigns of this crucial position once Katz officially retires in May. Whoever it is will have great influence over how NFL Sundays will play out for years to come.