(Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
It was just a few years ago that the NFL decided to make the switch from a 16-game regular season to a 17-game regular season.
In fact, they made that move in 2021.
Now, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, there is a chance that an 18-game season could be on the horizon.
“Rather than take one big, giant step. They said ‘let’s take little steps’…There is a momentum to this…It’s only a matter of time before it does get real…It’s going to be about money,” Schefter said recently on The Pat McAfee Show.
.@AdamSchefter said it’s only a matter of time before the NFL will implement an 18-game season with two bye weeks on the @PatMcAfeeShow pic.twitter.com/5GcPyPTEk9
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) July 15, 2024
In the end, the most important thing for the league is money.
How can they make enough to not only keep the NFL going but keep it going with ease?
Another regular season game would certainly rake in some more cash.
Another week where fans are buying tickets, another week of television coverage, another week of players running out of the tunnel, etc.
Now, as Schefter stated, the players have to get on board with this idea.
18 games is fun for fans and the media because they aren’t the ones putting their bodies on the line in a physically vicious environment.
The players are the ones that put themselves through the brutal season just for a chance at glory.
Playing 18 games will be asking a lot, especially for some of the older players.
So, it will be up to the league and the owners to give the players enough incentive to want to play 18 games.
Perhaps if they sprinkled in multiple bye weeks it could work.
Regardless, this is a fascinating debate that feels like it is heating up by the second.
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