3 years after the NFL added a 17th game, the pressure for an 18th grows stronger

SANTA CLARA, California – The debate over whether the NFL will expand the regular season once again appears to have been resolved and now it’s a question of when the league will add an 18th game.

Commissioner Roger Goodell has spoken openly about this, union boss Lloyd Howell recently told the Washington Post that the NFLPA is open to doing so before the current collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2030 season and players seem resigned to the inevitability, no matter how they feel personally.

“I mean, I feel like we really don’t have a choice, to be honest,” said veteran Seattle Seahawks receiver Tyler Lockett, who said he would prefer to add another week off rather than another game to give TV networks more windows of opportunity. streaming. without burdening players with another game.

“I think it’s fairer, but we know it probably won’t end like this. So, I mean, you kind of roll with the punches and you can go play.

The NFL has wanted for years to add more games along with increasing lucrative national television windows. The league increased the regular season from 14 to 16 games in 1978 and kept it that way for decades.

But Goodell and the owners have advanced through the 17th game in the latest CBA negotiations leading up to the 2021 season and are not content to stop there, with Goodell saying in the spring that going to 18 games remains a priority as long as it can be done without significantly impacting player safety.

“If you had asked me this 10 years ago, I would probably have been excited about it. Now, I’m not as excited, but it is what it is,” Raiders receiver Davante Adams said. “That’s what’s special about football and why I really wanted to play football instead of basketball, is I feel like it’s a different kind of feeling knowing that you only have a limited amount of opportunities out there.

Adding another game to the season would add more broadcast windows. It could also move the Super Bowl to Presidents’ Day weekend, with a federal holiday the day after the game. That would require not adding a second week off — which most players said would be necessary to play an extra game — or moving the start of the season to Labor Day weekend, which the NFL has avoided since the season. 2000.

While moving the Super Bowl to a long holiday weekend might attract many fans who wouldn’t have to work the next day, it could turn an NFL season into a seven-month marathon from the start of training camp to the finals. . game.

“I feel like some people are going to feel like (Nikola) Jokic, ready to go home,” said Raiders cornerback Nate Hobbs, referring to the NBA star who complained about the length of that season when his Denver Nuggets won the championship in 2023. “But it takes whatever it takes, as if the true champions emerge and the truly mentally strong survive. …So it doesn’t really matter. Presidents Day and February meet for me. It’s all the same, I’m here now so it is what it is. I know it’s for entertainment.

The NFL is receiving more than $113 billion over 11 years for its broadcast rights as the most valuable television property. Of the 100 most-watched TV broadcasts in 2023, 93 were NFL games, up from 61 in 2018.

But this extra revenue comes at a price borne by the players’ bodies.

“The fans, and rightly so, shouldn’t know about all the injuries we suffered, but they don’t know what it takes to play on Sundays,” he said. Colts center Ryan Kelly, the team’s player representative. “I think there are too many games.”

When the NFL added a 17th game in 2021, the league eliminated a preseason game. Goodell said that would be the plan again if the league reached an 18-game season.

But that raises coaches’ concerns about having fewer chances for younger players to prove themselves or develop and does little to ease the concerns of veterans, many of whom play few or no snaps in exhibition games.

“They talk about canceling a preseason game, which to me doesn’t really matter because I only play one preseason game,” said 49ers All-Pro tight end George Kittle, who played 37 snaps in the preseason in the last six. years. “Most veterinarians do. So it doesn’t really do anything for anyone.”

Other concessions would be much more important to players, whether it’s an extra week off, a change in the offseason schedule or perhaps, most importantly, a larger share of revenue. Players had their share of shareable revenue increased from 47% to 48.5% in the last CBA when the season was increased to 17 games.

An 18th game would increase the size of the revenue pie and perhaps even the share that goes to players. When the season expanded to 17 games in 2021, some players got an extra check to boost their salary.

ESPN searched players in the offseason and found that 46% were in favor of expanding the season to 18 games with stipulations, and another 8% were willing to do so without any concessions.

“That’s another check, right?” 49ers defensive end Leonard Floyd said when asked for his opinion on the 18th game. “More games, more checks.”

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AP Pro Football Writers Rob Maaddi, Teresa Walker, Dennis Waszak Jr. and AP Sports Writers Mark Anderson, Tim Booth, David Brandt, Larry Lage, Steve Reed, Andy Seligman and Mitch Stacy contributed.

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