CINCINNATI (WKRC) – The Bengals have known their 2024-25 opponents since losing their next-to-last game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Dec. 31, 2023, but they will likely find out what dates and times they will play those teams this Thursday.

The NFL hasn’t officially announced when it is releasing the schedule other than to say it is doing it sometime in May, but recent history would suggest this Thursday would be the day.

The schedule release for each of the last three seasons was the second Thursday in May, which is May 9 in 2024.

The Bengals had 14 of their 17 opponents for the 2024-25 known before last season even started as the NFL has schedules set in advance, and three opponents they didn’t know were like-place finishers in the AFC East, AFC South and NFC South.

With the Bengals finishing last in the AFC North those last-place finishers from those divisions are New England Patriots at home and road games against the Tennessee Titans (led by former Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan) and the Carolina Panthers.

Here are some things to note about the Bengals schedule for the 2024-25 season:

OPPONENTS

Home (8): Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Denver, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Washington and New England

Road Opponents (9): Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Kansas City, Los Angeles Chargers, New York Giants, Tennessee and Carolina

PRIME TIME GAMES

The Bengals had four scheduled last season: one on Thursday night (at Baltimore), one on Sunday night (home against Buffalo) and two on Monday night (home against the Los Angeles Rams and at Jacksonville).

For a team that is considered one of the contenders to win the Super Bowl it will likely get a similar amount of prime time games this season.

The Bengals also played two Saturday games (Dec. 16 against the Minnesota Vikings and Dec. 23 at Pittsburgh).

INTERNATIONAL GAMES

The home teams for international games this season are the following:

London: Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings

Germany: Carolina Panthers

Brazil: Philadelphia Eagles

The Bengals don’t play any of the teams hosting games in London and the Eagles are already scheduled to play the Green Bay Packers in Brazil on Sept. 6, but they do play at the Panthers.

It’s unlikely the Bengals would play Carolina in Germany if the NFL sticks to the way it scheduled international games the last two seasons, and has already scheduled one for this season.

In games not involving Jacksonville the NFL has only matched up teams from the same conference in international games.

With the Bengals in the AFC and Carolina in the NFC that would mean they would not face each other in Germany if the league sticks to the way it has scheduled international games the last two seasons.

BLACK FRIDAY/CHRISTMAS DAY

The NFL will once again hold a game on Black Friday, which this year falls on Nov. 29.

The Bengals openly lobbied to host the Black Friday game last season, but the New York Jets wound up hosting the Miami Dolphins.

The NFL also announced it would play two games on Christmas Day even though that falls on a Wednesday this year.

FLEX SCHEDULING

Games can be moved into and out of dates after the schedule is released based on the following rules:

Sunday Night Football: Week 5-10, up to twice permitted; Weeks 11-17, at the league’s discretion

Monday Night Football: Weeks 12-17, at the league’s discretion

Thursday Night Football: Week 13-17, up to twice permitted

Sunday afternoon: Can be shifted between 1 p.m., 4:05 p.m., or 4:25 p.m., as well as can be moved to Sunday night, Monday night, or Thursday night

Week 18 games: All games dates/times will be determined at the conclusion of Week 17