Jim Nantz on CBS losing Chiefs-Bills to NBC: ‘I kind of had a sinking feeling’

Credit: CBS Sports

Jim Nantz figured Chiefs-Bills wouldn’t stay on CBS forever.

Speaking to Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina on Thursday morning — a few hours before the full 2026 NFL schedule was set to drop — CBS’s lead voice was asked how bummed he was that the league had given Chiefs-Bills to NBC for Thanksgiving night.

“That’s the rivalry of its time,” Nantz told Traina. “But, you know, you’re not gonna get it every year. So, I’m O.K. with it. I have faith we’re going to get a very good schedule. I kind of had a sinking feeling that one of these years, somebody else was gonna get the chance to have that great matchup. It’s O.K.”

The CBS broadcast team has been as intertwined with that rivalry as any crew in football. Nantz, Tony Romo, and Tracy Wolfson have called nine of the 10 meetings between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen since 2020, including all four playoff games. Last October, ahead of the eighth installment, Nantz told the Kansas City Star that the rivalry was the defining matchup of its generation, comparing it to the Brady-Manning era he covered earlier in his career.

“To me, it’s the rivalry of this time. And I don’t even think it’s close,” Nantz said. “Patrick just turned 30 in September. Josh is 29 years old. I saw Peyton and Tom clash into their 40s. So I’m going to take another decade of this, that’s for sure.”

Wolfson told Awful Announcing around the same time that the crew felt like they had residency in Kansas City, having covered what feels like eight Chiefs games and at least six Bills games in a given season. The last three CBS calls of the rivalry alone produced, at the time, the most-watched divisional playoff game in NFL history, the most-watchedregular-season CBS game since 2007 outside of holidays, and an AFC Championship Game that drew 57.7 million viewers.

NBC getting the game is a real loss for CBS, even with the 2026 Thanksgiving slate being an embarrassment of riches. Netflix gets Wednesday night with the Packers and Rams for the inaugural Thanksgiving Eve game. CBS has the Lions in the traditional early window on Thursday. Fox has the Cowboys at 4:30. NBC closes the night with Chiefs-Bills at 8:20 p.m. ET. Amazon wraps the weekend on Black Friday with the Broncos-Steelers game.

Nantz is not wrong that there is still a very good schedule to be had for CBS. The full slate drops tonight at 8 p.m. ET.

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