# NFL- Why one late game at 4:05 kickoff time? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 30, 2008, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-why-one-late-game-at-4-05-kickoff-time/465852 "2008-09-30T14:46:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-why-one-late-game-at-4-05-kickoff-time/465852/1 "2008-09-30T14:46:05Z")
I just noticed that each week the NFL schedules only one late game to kickoff at 4:05 EST while the rest of the late games start at 4:15 EST. Why? ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-why-one-late-game-at-4-05-kickoff-time/465852/2 "2008-10-01T13:50:32Z")
I’m guessing those are west coast games. EDIT: On closer inspection, it’s not always just one. Based on which games are slated for 4:05, my conclusion is that the 4:05 games are not part of network doubleheaders, so there is no reason to delay them until 4:15. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-why-one-late-game-at-4-05-kickoff-time/465852/3 "2008-10-01T13:55:45Z")
Keep in mind that the national broadcast games are at 4:15pm, which is the doubleheader for everyone in the country except the local markets of other games going on. That’s one of the reasons why most games are scheduled at 1:00pm. The other being that there are more teams in the Eastern/Central time zones than there are in Western/Mountain. Actually, I probably have that backwards. I would imagine that the fewer late games due to time zones makes the late game timeslot ideal for the national broadcast. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-why-one-late-game-at-4-05-kickoff-time/465852/4 "2008-10-01T19:06:41Z")
So I can watch a good football game after watching the Lions lose. Quick ,make it go away. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-why-one-late-game-at-4-05-kickoff-time/465852/5 "2008-10-01T19:10:38Z")
I looked the other day when you first posted and could only find [this.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_on_television) It mentions the 4:05s and gives a little info but not sure if it provides any definitive “why.” ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-why-one-late-game-at-4-05-kickoff-time/465852/6 "2008-10-01T19:16:23Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > I looked the other day when you first posted and could only find [this.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_on_television) It mentions the 4:05s and gives a little info but not sure if it provides any definitive “why.” It says one network gets a double header with a 1:00 and a 4:15 and the other network gets only one game at either 1:00 or 4:05. So, I guess the 4:15 takes into account a bit of a delay to get the first game of the double header out of the way. There’s no reason to delay on the single header network, so they start at 4:05. In other words, what **Ellis Dee** said.