NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said on Thursday that a 17-game season for 2021 is still on the table and that the discussion for that topic is scheduled for March 30-31 via a virtual meeting, according to Albert Breer of NBC Sports.
The notion has been for a while now that a 17-game schedule is a lock to be passed by the league owners for 2021 and especially on the heels of the NFL announcing a new lucrative deal on Thursday with their media partners Amazon, CBS, ESPN/ABC, FOX, and NBC, for the future distribution of televised games, as well as additional media rights.
The new agreements will with media partners are scheduled to begin in 2023 and then run through the 2033 season. The NFL is expected to nearly double media revenue to more than $10 billion a season under the new rights agreements, according to a Thursday report from Joe Reedy of the Associated Press.
Assuming a 17-game schedule is implemented, each NFL team would play an extra interconference matchup, based on divisional standings from the preceding season and on a rotating divisional basis. That was reported by Breer several weeks ago and if it comes to fruition, the Steelers will host the Seattle Seahawks at Heinz Field during the 2021 season.
The Seahawks, like the Steelers, finished the 2020 regular season 12-4 and both teams were the No. 3 seed in their respective conference playoffs. The Steelers last played the Seahawks in 2019 and that game was at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. The Seahawks beat the Steelers in that game 28-26.
