Many Kansas City Chiefs fans looked forward to an Arrowhead Stadium homecoming for Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill in 2023. Their hopes were dashed when the NFL schedule release revealed the league’s decision to send both teams to Germany to play the league’s first international game in Frankfurt.
On a conference call held last week regarding scheduling decisions, the NFL’s vice president of broadcasting, Onnie Bose, made it clear that the competitive nature expected out of the matchup tipped the league’s scale in favor of sending the game to Germany.
“The strength of the Chiefs’ schedule, and how many strong teams are coming into Kansas City this year, it’s a testament and a real benefit to our international teams and the NFL Network that a game like that, as meaningful and as competitive as we expect it to be, can go and be the first game that we play in Frankfurt,” He explained. “It was part of just the opportunity to play that game, that will draw a good audience into that 9:30 A.M. window was there.
“We always have options, there [were] a few other teams that could’ve gone in there, and sure, the Tyreek Hill storyline is something, and we get that, but I think the opportunity to play a meaningful competitive game internationally is really valuable to us.”
Clearly, the league expects the Chiefs’ matchup against Miami to be a barnburner. As much as fans may have hoped to see Hill eat crow in Kansas City, the NFL is more focused on international appeal than offseason storylines in their decision-making relative to the 2023 schedule.
Still, the Chiefs can make Hill look silly on an international stage in the highly anticipated tilt. There is sure to be plenty of trash-talking between Hill and his former teammates ahead of the matchup. The team also should be expected to have extra motivation to win over fans in Germany, where they have been given marketing rights.
