The NFL has wanted to move to an 18-game schedule for a number of years, going about it incrementally. In 2021, as part of the prior year’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, the league made the jump from 16 to 17 games. While there has been speculation the NFL could expand the season before the current CBA expires, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell downplayed such a timeline.
“Well, we haven’t had any formal negotiating sessions about an extension. I’m certain it’ll come up in the context of that in some fashion. It is something that [NFLPA executive director] Lloyd [Howell] and I have had informal conversations about”, Goodell said of the NFL’s status on 18 games, “but there’s a lot of work to be done”.
While the players received some perks in the last collective bargaining agreement, the NFL, as always, took home the biggest prizes. The 17th game was a big one, and the league has been milking it for all it’s worth. An 18th game feels inevitable, simply a matter of when. The preliminary talks Goodell mentioned already took place over the summer.
“We committed in 2011, when we signed a collective bargain[ing] agreement that the players would not only have a say in that, but they would actually be able to prevent it from happening or support it from happening”, the NFL commissioner said. “We were able to do that when we moved to 17 games back in 2020. And I think it’s a large part because of the safety of our game, the advancements that we made in how we’re training in the offseason, how we’re training in the preseason”.
When the NFL expanded the regular season to 17 games, it removed one preseason game. It went from 16 and 4 to 17 and 3 and could now go to 18 and 2. “Eighteen and two might be a possibility. Because we know that fans love football”, Goodell said. “They want more football. But we have to be incredibly sensitive and smart about the balance and how we deal with that”.
Goodell might not be as sensitive behind closed doors, like when he decided the NFL should play Wednesday Christmas games. Whatever the NFL can profit on without the NFLPA’s explicit consent, it seems willing to do. While Goodell stressed increased player safety, players are still not in favor of 18 games.
The current CBA runs through the 2030 season and it’s hard to imagine the NFL waiting that long. I expect Goodell to formally broach the subject in the next year or two, however that might look. Rest assured that 18th game will be coming sooner or later.
Other goals the NFL has on the horizon are a 33rd franchise in an international city, streaming more games, and games on more days of the week. An expansion of the postseason to 16 teams seems bound to happen at some point as well. The league already dominates the market, and there are no signs of relent there. But Goodell and the owners still like to make it look like others have a say in the matter.
