The National Football League season is getting longer.
The league’s owners voted Tuesday to expand to a 17-game season, an increase of one game from the previous 16-game season, which will extend the length of the season by one week to 18 weeks, while reducing the number of preseason games played to three per team.
The move is the first major change to the NFL’s regular season schedule since 1978, when the league began playing 16-game seasons.
“This is a monumental moment in NFL history,” Roger Goodell, the NFL’s commissioner, said in a statement. “The CBA with the players and the recently completed media agreements provide the foundation for us to enhance the quality of the NFL experience for our fans. And one of the benefits of each team playing 17 regular-season games is the ability for us to continue to grow our game around the world.”
True to Goodell’s mission of promoting the brand globally, as part of the expanded season, every team in the league will play one international game over the next 8 years.
The 17th game will feature teams from opposing conferences – a team from the AFC will play a team from the NFC that finished in the same place within their division the last season. For example, the AFC East-leading Buffalo Bills will play the NFC East-leading Washington Football Team.
Though the NFL Players Association agreed to the change, not all of the league’s players are on board.
Green Bay Packers safety Adrian Amos wrote on Twitter, “we really let this happen”; New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara said “S*** dumb … as hell” in a Twitter post.
The news comes on the heels of the league striking a lucrative new rights deal that will bring in $113 billion over the 11 seasons of the new deals that begin in 2023, an increase of 80% over the previous such period, a person with direct knowledge of the contracts told The Associated Press.
“These new media deals will provide our fans even greater access to the games they love. We’re proud to grow our partnerships with the most innovative media companies in the market,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement at the time. “Along with our recently completed labor agreement with the NFLPA, these distribution agreements bring an unprecedented era of stability to the League and will permit us to continue to grow and improve our game.”
The 2021 NFL season will begin on Thursday, Sept. 9, and will conclude on Jan. 9, 2022. The playoffs will begin on Jan. 15, 2022, and culminate with the latest Super Bowl in history on Feb. 13.
This is a developing story. Check back later for further updates.
