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 The bipartisan commission responsible for arranging presidential debates on Sunday rebuffed Donald J. Trump’s complaints that two of the three debates were scheduled to take place during pro football games, after Mr. Trump hedged about whether he would still participate. 
 
 The Commission on Presidential Debates made the schedule last September after consulting with officials in both parties. The first two debates conflict with National Football League games: on Monday, Sept. 26 (Atlanta Falcons vs. New Orleans Saints) and Sunday, Oct. 9 (Giants vs. Green Bay Packers). A third presidential debate is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 19, and a vice-presidential debate is set for Tuesday, Oct. 4. 
 
 The commission stood by its decision, saying it “selects the debate dates a year in advance in order for the television networks to have maximum lead time and predictability in scheduling these extremely important civic education forums,” and added that it “believes the dates for the 2016 debates will serve the American public well.” 
 
 In an interview with ABC’s “This Week” shown on Sunday, Mr. Trump accused Hillary Clinton of wanting to minimize the audience for the debates, saying her campaign had tried to do the same for debates with Senator Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primaries — and suggested that football fans should view her skeptically. 
 
 “Hillary Clinton wants to be against the N.F.L.,” Mr. Trump said. 
 
 Separately, Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, expressed support on Sunday for Mr. Trump’s position, despite the party having agreed to the debate schedule last fall. 
 
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 “Certainly, we’re not going to agree with anything that our nominee doesn’t agree with,” Mr. Priebus said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” 
 
 And Paul Manafort, the Trump campaign chairman, said on “Face the Nation” that he planned to “sit down with the commission in the next week or so” to make sure the debates “have a broad audience.” 
 
 But in a statement issued a short time later, the Commission on Presidential Debates said it had started planning the schedule 18 months ago and had worked to pick dates that would avoid holidays, baseball playoff games, N.F.L. games and other events that would compete for voters’ attention. 
 
 “It is impossible to avoid all sporting events, and there have been nights on which debates and games occurred in most election cycles,” it said in a statement. “A debate has never been rescheduled as a result.” 
 
 The Clinton campaign, when asked for a statement on Sunday, directed reporters to a tweet sent by John Podesta, the campaign chairman. 
 
 “This is just more Trump debate malarkey,” Mr. Podesta wrote. “We will be at the debates set by the bipartisan debate commission and expect he will too.” ||||| Donald Trump says the fall debate schedule is "unacceptable," raising the specter that he may try to skip them. 
 
 In a tweet on Friday night, Trump incorrectly said that Hillary Clinton and the Democrats are "trying to rig the debates." 
 
 In fact, the fall debate schedule was determined almost a year ago by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, a private group made up of both Republicans and Democrats. 
 
 His primary complaint is that two of the debates are scheduled on the same nights as NFL games. 
 
 That's true. (It was also true in 2012, and the debates were still high-rated.) 
 
 In an interview with ABC News, Trump said he's "fine" with the commission's three debates, but objected to the specific dates. 
 
 "I'll tell you what I don't like. It's against two NFL games," he said. "I got a letter from the NFL saying, 'This is ridiculous.'" 
 
 An NFL spokesman said Saturday: "While we'd obviously wish the debate commission could find another night, we did not send a letter to Trump." 
 
 On Sunday morning, a Trump aide said that "Mr. Trump was made aware of the conflicting dates by a source close to the league." 
 
 "It's unfortunate that millions of voters will be disenfranchised by these chosen dates," the aide added. 
 
 The debate organizers have a different view: They note that the debates are easy to find all across TV, and people who choose to watch the football games live can still watch the debates later through video on demand. 
 
 Because Trump skipped one of the GOP primary debates in January, there has been speculation among media types that he may quibble with the fall debate schedule or even threaten to not show up. 
 
 Campaigns routinely haggle over the details of the debates, right down to the temperature of the studio, but every major party candidate in modern times has ultimately agreed to participate. 
 
 It would be risky for Trump to turn down the debates. Voters consistently tell pollsters that the sessions help them decide which candidate to support. 
 
 Trump hasn't threatened a boycott. He told ABC, "I like three debates. I think that's fine. I think it's enough." (The ABC interview was taped Friday.) 
 
 But he focused on the NFL scheduling conflict. RNC chief strategist Sean Spicer seconded it in an interview on CNN Saturday morning, and added, "The entire system needs to be re-looked at." 
 
 The commission responded to Trump on Saturday afternoon by saying that it "announced the number, dates and sites for the 2016 general election debates in September 2015." 
 
 "The CPD did not consult with any political parties or campaigns in making these decisions," the group said. 
 
 According to commission officials, sporting events, religious holidays, and other factors cause scheduling headaches every four years. The group seeks to space out the debates and schedule them for different nights of the week. 
 
 The first debate of 2016, slated for September 26, coincides with "Monday Night Football" on ESPN. 
 
 The vice presidential debate is scheduled one week later on October 4, a Tuesday. 
 
 The second presidential debate, on October 9, coincides with "Sunday Night Football" on NBC. 
 
 The final debate is slated for October 19, a Wednesday. 
 
 NFL games are played on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays in the fall. Fridays and Saturdays are effectively ruled out because TV viewing is lower on weekend evenings. That only leaves Tuesdays and Wednesdays. 
 
 One complication was Yom Kippur on Tuesday, October 11 and Wednesday, October 12. 
 
 Related: Fox News skipped some big moments at Democratic convention 
 
 Trump's tweet also brought up Bernie Sanders, saying "same as last time w/ Bernie," a veiled reference to the Democratic primary debate calendar. Many critics believed that the Democratic National Committee sought to minimize the debate schedule, thereby favoring Clinton over Sanders. 
 
 The Commission on Presidential Debates has many critics too, but it was specifically formed to provide a nonpartisan structure for debates that doesn't favor one candidate over another. 
 
 The parties are not involved in the debate scheduling, a point that Spicer made on CNN: The commission "announces the dates without consultation of the parties or the candidates." 
 
 Spicer acknowledged that the dates were set last September, before the primaries even began, but said that "doesn't mean it's a good system." 
 
 "You look at the debates being on major NFL nights and you wonder why people are upset about that? This was a dumb idea and should be revisited," Spicer said, throwing the RNC's support behind Trump's complaint. 
 
 Related: Trump prevails over Clinton in convention speech ratings race 
 
 When Trump tweeted on Friday night, New York Times political correspondent and CNN analyst Maggie Haberman responded, "Is this a prelude to not doing all three?" 
 
 Another interpretation is that Trump wants to make sure he has the biggest possible audience for the debates. 
 
 Before Trump weighed in, former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau asserted on Friday's "Keepin' It 1600" podcast that Clinton should call for more debate sessions. 
 
 If Trump "says no, then he looks weak, which is against brand," Favreau theorized. 
 
 His podcast co-host Dan Pfeiffer, a former Obama aide and CNN commentator, brought up the ongoing guessing game about whether Trump will participate. 
 
 "The rumor is that Trump may not agree to the debates. He is not engaged" in the normal negotiations between the campaigns and the commission, Pfeiffer said. 
 
 "I heard the same thing actually," Favreau said. 
 
 Programming note: Trump communications director Jason Miller will be interviewed on CNN's "Reliable Sources," Sunday at 11 a.m. ET. ||||| WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he doesn't like that he'll be going up against NFL games when he debates Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton this fall. 
 
 Trump also says the league complained to him about the debate schedule in a letter. 
 
 A spokesman for the NFL, however, said the league did not send a letter to the billionaire businessman. 
 
 The independent, nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates serves as the debate sponsor and sets the participation criteria, dates, sites and formats of debates. The sites and dates for the 2016 debates were announced in September 2015. 
 
 The commission "did not consult with any political parties or campaigns in making these decisions," according to a statement issued Saturday. 
 
 In an interview with ABC's Sunday show "This Week," Trump was asked whether he would accept the commission's schedule. 
 
 He replied: "Well, I'll tell you what I don't like. It's against two NFL games. I got a letter from the NFL saying, 'This is ridiculous. Why are the debates against -- because the NFL doesn't want to go against the debates. Because the debates are going to be pretty massive, from what I understand, OK?" 
 
 Asked about Trump's assertion, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy tweeted: "While we'd obviously wish the Debate Commission could find another night, we did not send a letter to Mr Trump." 
 
 Two of the three debates scheduled in September and October will be televised during NFL games. On Sept. 26, the night of the first debate, ESPN will carry the Monday night game featuring the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints. On Oct. 9, the second debate will air opposite the Sunday night game featuring the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers on NBC. 
 
 "I don't know how the dates were picked. I don't know why those particular dates," Trump told ABC. 
 
 The commission issued another statement on Sunday clarifying how it chooses debate dates. 
 
 "The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) started working more than 18 months ago to identify religious and federal holidays, baseball league playoff games, NFL games, and other events in order to select the best nights for the 2016 debates," the statement said. "It is impossible to avoid all sporting events, and there have been nights on which debates and games occurred in most election cycles. A debate has never been rescheduled as a result. 
 
 "As a point of reference, in a four-year period, there are four general election debates (three presidential and one vice presidential) and approximately 1000 NFL games. 
 
 "The CPD selects the debate dates a year in advance in order for the television networks to have maximum lead time and predictability in scheduling these extremely important civic education forums. The CPD believes the dates for the 2016 debates will service the American public well." 
 
 Trump did say three debates were "fine" and that he'd rather have three than one. 
 
 Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. ||||| Tweet with a location 
 
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– Donald Trump is deeply unhappy about this fall's presidential debate schedule—and apparently a little confused about who created it. Two of the three debates clash with NFL games, and Trump tweeted Friday that Hillary Clinton and the Democrats were "trying to rig the debates," though the debates were scheduled by the non-partisan commission that has been organizing presidential debates since 1988, McClatchy reports. The schedule, which also includes one vice presidential debate, was set in September last year, long before the NFL released this season's schedule. The Commission on Presidential Debates, which consulted with officials in both parties before creating the schedule, says it's impossible to avoid all sporting events and it stands by the schedule, the New York Times reports. In an interview with ABC's This Week, Trump accused Clinton of rigging the debate schedule to minimize the audience. "I'll tell you what I don't like. It's against two NFL games," he said. "I got a letter from the NFL saying, 'This is ridiculous.'" An NFL spokesman said they would prefer a different debate schedule but that there was no letter to Trump. "Mr. Trump was made aware of the conflicting dates by a source close to the league," a Trump aide tells CNN. "It's unfortunate that millions of voters will be disenfranchised by these dates." The Republican National Committee has also complained about the debate schedule, which can be seen here. The presidential debates will be on Monday, Sept. 26; Sunday, Oct. 9; and Wednesday, Oct. 19; the VP debate is set for Tuesday, Oct. 4.