The club owners of the NFL agreed on Tuesday evening to extend the regular season. As a result, from the coming season 17 instead of 16 games will be played, in return only three pre-season games will be played.
The NFL players agreed to the additional game as part of their 2020 collective agreement, which gave the league the opportunity to expand the season as early as 2021. The previous collective agreement stated that the total number of games in the preseason and regular season would be limited to 20.
“This is a monumental moment in the history of the NFL,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a press release, adding, “The CBA with the players and the recent media agreements are the foundation for improving the quality of the NFL experience for ours Fans. “
Although the NFL Players Association approved the change last year, some players have spoken out against the planned changes in the past few weeks. Player salaries do not change, but are paid over 18 weeks instead of 17 weeks.
Due to the odd number of games, the two NFL conferences change between eight and nine home games every year. In addition, the NFL wants to guarantee from 2022 that every team will play an international game at least every eight years. Up to four games with neutral locations in Canada, Europe, Mexico, South America and Great Britain are planned.
For the NFL, above all, these changes mean more revenue. 16 games have been played in the regular season since 1978, but some NFL owners have been pushing for an expansion for more than a decade.
