Roger Goodell: Owners want 18 games

NFL Looking To Expand Regular Season

ATLANTA -- NFL owners have shown widespread support for going to an 18-game schedule but want to implement the change as part of a new labor agreement.

Commissioner Roger Goodell says owners see two more regular-season games -- and two fewer preseason games -- as the most logical way to enhance revenues in a difficult economic environment. He says it will be one of the main issues in talks on reaching a new collective bargaining agreement.

The current deal runs out after this season. Players are eager to see how much of the additional revenue they will receive with an expanded schedule, especially since it could increase the risk of injuries or health problems after they retire.

Goodell says the league is targeting 2012 for the 18-game season.

TD wrote:Why not a 17 game schedule with three pre-season games. All I keep hearing is 18 and 2 pre.
This should make most players happy I would think.

18-game NFL season could mean a new TV partner, permanent date for Super Bowl
August 26, 2010 | 2:21 pm

The National Football League's push for to extend the regular season to 18 games -- from its current schedule of 16 -- could have a dramatic effect not just on the players and fans, but also on the television industry.

GOODELL Although an 18-game season is not a lock, it seems likely to happen, perhaps as early as 2012. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said the league intends to officially propose extending the season by two games in the near future. While the NFL Players Union will probably oppose it, owners will push hard for a longer season because of the revenue it could bring them.

Clearly, a longer season would give the NFL some juice to try to get the networks to pay more for rights. The NFL's current deals with CBS, NBC, ESPN and Fox are set to expire in 2014. The league takes in about $3.1 billion annually for those deals, another $1 billion annually from DirecTV for the Sunday Ticket package and $400 million a year from its own NFL Network.

With a longer season, the league could even consider carving out yet another television package of games. Currently, the NFL Network carries eight games in the second half of the season on Thursday and Saturday nights. The NFL could add one game to that package and create another nine-game package for games in the first half of the season that it could sell to itself or to another cable or broadcast network.

As for whether an 18-game season would mean an earlier start or later finish: If recent history is any guide, the NFL wants to take over February. The Super Bowl always used to be played in mid- to late January, but over the last 10 years, the game has mostly taken place in February. Adding two regular-season games could push the Super Bowl into mid-February and give the NFL a chance to make the three-day Presidents' Day weekend a permanent home for its biggest event. No doubt there are plenty of football fans who overdo it on Super Bowl Sunday and wouldn't mind having Monday off.

-- Joe Flint

Pizan wrote:^ I agree TD. The roster limit should go to 58. I am in favor of the 18 games though. More football is good for everyone.

Expanded schedule is good idea if ...


... it means labor peace in 2011; otherwise league can't justify added toll on players






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The NFL can justify going to an 18-game regular season, but only -- and I repeat, only -- if it means no lockout in 2011.Expanding
the regular season by two games has its problems. But more games means
more revenue and more revenue can be the olive branch that could lead to
long-lasting labor peace. The last collective bargaining extension in
2006 was heavily favored toward the players. To fix it, owners have to
get the players to accept a lower percentage of revenues in order for
teams to secure better profit margins. Adding two games can accomplish
that and would enable both parties to make more money.What
doesn't make sense is locking out players in order to force them into
taking a much lower percentage and then asking them to endure two more
games of pounding. Plus, a lockout could ultimately hurt revenues. Sure,
the 18-game schedule would be set for 2012, but who is going to renew
season tickets in 2011 under the clouds of a tough economy when there is
no guarantee games will be played in the fall? Plus, a labor disruption
could turn off a young fan base that craves news on transactions and
fantasy information and doesn't want to hear about labor issues.Owners
are expected to vote in the near future, and there isn't expected to be
much opposition. Commissioner Roger Goodell has stated repeatedly the
four-game preseason is too long and fans aren't buying it. He's right.
More and more local games are being blacked out. Fans have complained
for years about being forced to pay regular-season prices for games
filled with backups. Expanded offseason programs have allowed coaches to
get players in shape enough to sacrifice two preseason games and
replace them with two regular-season games.Although the players
sound reluctant to go to 18 games, it's going to be hard for them to
turn down the idea of getting two regular-season game checks instead of
being paid around $1,000 a week to play meaningless preseason games.An
18-game schedule has its faults. Figuring a game usually results in 2½
injuries per team, the injury attrition rate could be a problem. Sure,
rosters will be expanded by three or four players per team, but those
players can't replace valued starters late in the season or in the
playoffs. An 18-game regular season will alter the record book, but that
was a complaint when the NFL had 12 and 14 regular-season games and
wanted more.With two more games, the league still doesn't plan to
start the regular season before Labor Day, so that means the Super Bowl
would be played around the third week in February. Later playoff games
could be problems in cold-weather sites. Overall, though, no one
can complain about having more meaningful football. And if it leads to
significant labor peace, I'm all for it.