53 replies to this topic

[Mackus]

20 weeks 18 games has been my preferred option for a long time, so this is good news.  Don't think they should expand any further, but I try not to worry about slippery slopes.  Should reduce to 2 preseason games, although I'd be fine with 1 or even completely eliminating them.

[BaltBird 24]

Having an odd number of games is weird. 16 or 18 is fine. Did they really need 4 preseason games? 3 preseason games?

2 preseason, 18 regular with 2 bye weeks.

[BSLMikeLowe]

The problem with 18 games and 2 bye weeks is it likely eliminates Goodell's other goal of expanding the schedule, which was to hold the Super Bowl over the long President's Day weekend. To do all that they'd either have to start the season Labor Day weekend or shorten the time between the conference title games and the SB to one week, neither of which the league has said they want to do. But something's gotta give, you can't create an extra week on the calendar out of thin air (though with the NFL's hubris I wouldn't put it past them to think they could).

 

I do think the NFL could increase revenues while sticking to the 17-game season. Go ahead and play 16 games overseas, or other neutral sites, that you can sell at a premium. That way every team plays 8 home games, 8 true road games, and a neutral site game each season. They can also add a 19th week to the season (and play the SB President's Day weekend) by just having two byes per team. This results in an extra week of inventory to sell to the broadcasters, with the only loss coming via fewer Sunday afternoon games....but because those games are all regionally-broadcast, CBS and FOX aren't actually losing any broadcast windows, they're gaining one like everyone else plus they don't have to produce so many games simultaneously, so they can save money on announcers, camera operators, production trucks, etc. And I think the NFL would get a lot less pushback from the players on that vs an 18th game.

[ivanbalt]

Capitalism determined to ruin the cash cow.

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