CLEVELAND -- Between four primetime contests and at least two more nationally featured games, the Cleveland Browns won't be hard to find in 2019.
That isn't by mistake.
As television networks helped put together the 2019 NFL schedule and which channels would get which primetime games, the Browns found themselves in high demand.
"From every [network]," Senior VP of broadcasting Howard Katz told Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer. "Literally everybody called and said, ‘We want more Cleveland.'"
Ultimately, the networks got what they wanted.
When the Browns' 2019 schedule was unveiled on Wednesday night, the team was featured in four primetime games -- two on Monday Night Football, one on Sunday Night Football and one on Thursday Night Football. Additionally, Cleveland's Oct. 27 matchup vs. the New England Patriots and Dec. 1 contest vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers will both be played in CBS's 4:25 p.m. feature slot.
Add it all together and the Browns filled their total allotment of possible nationally televised games with a schedule that includes their first showcase on Monday Night Football since 2015 and first Sunday Night Football game since 2008. That includes a Week 2 matchup against the New York Jets on Monday Night Football, which became one of the league's most highly sought after games.
“We’d already said [that] this is a game that probably should live on ESPN, on Monday Night Football,” NFL VP of broadcasting Onnie Bose told Breer. “That night, Odell [Beckham Jr.] got traded early evening, and then Le’Veon [Bell] got signed overnight. We came into the office the next day and said, ‘Alright, that game has that much more buzz and meaning around it.'"
Added Katz: “All of the sudden, that game became a Monday night game, a possible Sunday night game, a possible Sunday doubleheader game, a really good Thursday night game. That was a game we could’ve played in almost every window."
Ultimately, the Browns-Jets matchup was rewarded to ESPN in a game that will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the inaugural Monday Night Football game -- which also featured the same two teams. Katz also noted that ESPN had been pushing to add Cleveland to its schedule since Baker Mayfield's emergence last season, with the team's acquisition of Beckham only making the Browns a hotter ticket.
“ESPN, to their credit, they’d bought into Cleveland at the end of last season,” Katz said. “The Beckham trade reinforced what they wanted.”
You can see the entirety of the Browns' 2019 schedule below:
- Sep. 8 vs. Tennessee Titans (1 p.m. ET) CBS
- Sep. 16 at New York Jets (8:15 p.m. ET) ESPN
- Sep. 22 vs. Los Angeles Rams (8:20 p.m. ET) NBC
- Sep. 29 at Baltimore Ravens (1 p.m. ET) CBS
- Oct. 7 at San Francisco 49ers (8:15 p.m. ET) ESPN
- Oct. 13 vs. Seattle Seahawks (1 p.m. ET) FOX
- BYE
- Oct. 27 at New England Patriots (4:25 p.m. ET) CBS
- Nov. 3 at Denver Broncos (4:25 p.m. ET) CBS
- Nov. 10 vs. Buffalo Bills (1 p.m. ET) CBS
- Nov. 14 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (8:20 p.m. ET) FOX/NFL Network/Amazon
- Nov. 24 vs. Miami Dolphins (1 p.m. ET) CBS
- Dec. 1 at Pittsburgh Steelers (4:25 p.m. ET) CBS
- Dec. 8 vs. Cincinnati Bengals (1 p.m. ET) CBS
- Dec. 15 at Arizona Cardinals (4:05 p.m. ET) CBS
- Dec. 22 vs. Baltimore Ravens (1 p.m. ET) CBS
- Dec 29 at Cincinnati Bengals (1 p.m. ET) CBS