It’s no secret that the NFL has recently faced troubled times.
Rule changes that watered down the game and the woke actions of some players have left fans less than enthused about America’s favorite sport.
But NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell just teased some major changes to the League that could make fans’ wishes come true.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently shared his vision for future changes in the NFL.
And there could be some major changes coming in the future.
A major change to the Super Bowl
One of those changes could involve a date change for the Super Bowl.
During an interview with Pat McAfee, Goodell was asked if the NFL was looking to expand the regular season again after adding a 17th game in 2021.
The NFL Commissioner gave quite an interesting response that had fans beaming.
Goodell said he would love to see the League expand the season to 18 games, which would mean the Super Bowl could very possibly be moved to the Sunday of a three-day holiday weekend.
This idea has fans standing up and cheering, as there has long been a call for there to be a post-Super Bowl national holiday.
If the NFL adds one more game to the current schedule, the League would play 18 regular-season games and two preseason games.
“If we got to 18 and two, that’s not an unreasonable thing,” Goodell said. “The other thing it does, [Super Bowl Sunday] ends up on Presidents’ Day weekend, which is a three-day weekend, which makes it Sunday night and then you have Monday off.”
This is a move most fans would love.
NFL fans have been trying for years to get the Monday after the Super Bowl changed to a national holiday.
That is something Congress has been interested in doing.
But under Goodell’s plan, Congress wouldn’t have to act since there’s already a national holiday in place.
Not a fan of the preseason
If this does happen, it would not occur anytime soon.
In fact, it would likely not happen until a few years from now at the earliest.
“I think we’re good at 17 [games] now, but we’re looking at how we continue,” Goodell said. “I’m not a fan of the preseason. I don’t think we need preseason anymore.”
Although Goodell isn’t personally a fan of the preseason, he didn’t seem like he was working to eliminate it completely.
Goodell has also touched on the topic of further international expansion.
During a recent interview with ESPN, Goodell said the League could be playing as many as 16 international games per season within the next decade.
“I honestly think we’ll be playing 16 games internationally if you go 10 years out,” Goodell said. “I think we’ll try to get to eight or nine in the next couple years.”
For the upcoming 2024 season, the NFL will be playing five games abroad.
Three games are scheduled in London, one in Germany, and the League’s first-ever game in Brazil.
In 2025, the NFL has already added Spain to its international schedule.
And the League is also planning on a return to Mexico City, which means the NFL will be playing as many as seven international games by 2026.
“The reaction we’re getting from the fans every time we play in a new market is incredible, so we’ll continue to play in London, we’ll continue to play in Germany, and I hope continue to play in Brazil,” Goodell said. “We’ll be back in Mexico, but there are a lot of other markets that – obviously, we’re going to go to Spain next year, we’ve already planned that – but there are a lot of markets that want us to play there and we’re actively looking at all those, exploring that.”
While the NFL has faced its share of problems, it still remains the most popular sport in America and one of the most popular sports in the world.
Patriot Political will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
