NFL Comissioner Looking To Extend Regular Season
Commissioner Roger Goddell is looking to propose a deal to NFL owners to extend the regular season to 17 or even 18 games. In order to do so, the league would have to cut the preseason short or not have one at all. The fans do not derive much satisfaction from such preseason games, and this would be an opportunity to increase revenue in spite of the poor economic times. From an economic standpoint, the NFL would be able to make more money from extra games and possibly be able to retain more employees as a result. On the other side of the coin, the players would demand more money for the additional games that are being played, and they would have to risk injury in addition to the 16 game strenuous season that is currently in place. There are two sides here -- basically the owners and the players. The additional compensation could be a problem that slows the negotiation process between the owners and the players association whose collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2010 season. This is something not quite set in stone, and there are foreseeable roadblocks that could curtail such negotiations. Goddell thinks that this would be a chance to keep the NFL out of debt and garner the interest of fans. It might also help the NFL generate global interest.
Here are some article to spark your opinion on the issue.
http://www.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUSTRE52P40L20090326
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_10310155
Some questions for thought:
Is this a plausible idea for the NFL moving forward?
What kind of effect could this have on the NFL as a whole?
Are the players being put at a disadvantage in this situation?
Do you think that this is a good idea with respect to the economy?
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I personally love the idea of extending the season. As a season ticket holder for the Green Bay Packers, it would be great having more of a chance to see them play. It could also bring in more money, as that is an extra game's worth of tickets to sell for each team.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do not support them completely getting rid of pre-season all together. Pre-season is what helps coaches see more fully the capabilities of their players, especially in the second and third string. It also helps them to re-adjust plays they currently use and run new things they wouldn't call during a normal game or be able to call at a practice.
I say extend the season, but keep at least a small pre-season, even if it means only one game at the very end of July/ beginning of August.
The more football, the better.
I am personally not for the extension of the season. The preseason is very important to players that are second or third string. It gives them a chance to fight for the position and helps their development as a player. The preseason helps the team get ready to play.
ReplyDeleteAs for the regular season being longer i think it would throw to many complications into the game. Stats would change, more injuries could happen, and they would have to pay players more. Plus I do not like the idea of teams having even better or worse records. As a Bears fan, that means more chances to lose, so I say no.
I do not think that extending the regular season has any value in it for the player because of injuries. It does, however provide the fan with more exciting games to watch and the NFL and team management with more money because there is two more games to earn money from.
ReplyDeleteI believe that extending the season will cause players and teams to adjust how they prepare for the season, however I do not believe it will greatly change the dynamic of the season. Instead, it will bring the team and the NFL more revenue, which would provide fans with more exciting opportunities and events. I believe this small change would have more improvements than drawbacks.
I think extending the length of the NFL season will only result in negative consequence for everyone but owners. The fans will see diluted play from old and worn down players. The players will receive less money for their efforts. If the NFL is considering doing anything it should consider removing 1 preseason game. No one wants to see 4 preseason games, you can get rid of 1 of those. If you get rid of 1 of these games, then maybe you can add an extra regular season game; but I am still not in favor of that. As we discussed in class, another game in the season means that stats get skewed. The same number of games has been played in the regular season for as long as I can remember and we should leave it right where it is!
ReplyDeleteAs a football fan i would love to see a longer season. That means more excitement involving who will make the playoffs, more chances for players to break records*, and more money for the NFL. However, I do not want to see these players get hurt, imagine if Brett Farvre played two extra games, or a player like Kurt Warner. These older players simply cannot handle two extra games
ReplyDeletePlaying football puts such a huge strain on the athletes body that it wouldn't be fair to the players to force them to play longer. RBs who carry too much one year see the negative consequences of that the next year (see: Larry Johnson, LT). This is true of all players. You can notice the wear and tear on these players as the season goes on and it will just get worse. I know it might seem like a good idea because you get to watch more of the sport you love, but how much fun would it really be watching a diluted and worn down product? It's no fun watching games where the players are hurt. And if you're a Packers fan, you should know exactly how that feels. Last year, the Packers had a good young team but had so many injuries that the Bears even had a better record than them
ReplyDeleteHowever, I am fine with shortening the preseason. I love the Bears and I love football and I don't care about preseason and I know a lot of hard core and average fans that agree with me. It's just boring to watch. Last year, Caleb Haney, the Bears 3rd string QB did awesome in preseason. But take that with a grain of salt because he played against a 3rd string defense. The preseason does not give an accurate representation of the quality of back up players anyway. And people act like preseason is the only way for coaches to judge their players. There are so many practices and mini camps that coaches know exactly what players they have before the preseason.
I also think statistics should not play a factor in this decision. Fans are now smart enough to judge players based on how they do per play (YPA, YPC, etc) and how they do per game versus the final stats per season. Jim Brown is considered the greatest running back ever even though guys like Emmitt Smith and The Sweatness have better overall numbers. Jerry Rice is still considered to have a better season than Randy Moss's 2007 year because people realize Moss did just a tad bit better than Rice but did it within four extra games. And that 1000 yard benchmark for RBs, we talked about in class, people are smart enough to realize that's a meaningless statistic nowadays.
But I do think the regular season should not be longer and the preseason should be shorter
After watching the post and seeing your presentation, I think that they should add another game or two. We are in a bad economic time and I really do believe that this is necessary for the future of the sport.
ReplyDeleteI'm just upset about one thing. The statistics will be off, but that is something that needs to happen if we want to add more games
As a fan of football I would be all for a couple extra football games in the fall. I do watch the preseason and enjoy watching some of the second and third string players develop, however I would much rather see two extra epic battles on the gridiron. Although there would be two more weeks of entertainment in the year, there would be a couple of changes in the NFL.
ReplyDeleteIf the NFL was to change to an 18 game schedule the main thing that would be affected is the statistics. There would always a controversy of the asterisk. The same thing happened in the MLB when they extended the season from 154 to 162. Also I believe that the game plan would change for teams. NFL teams would have to focus on the second stringers and also spread the passing and ground game evenly to lessen the blow that the players feel, to avoid injuries.
I would like to see more football games in the regular season, but I believe the NFL should look further in to precautionary measures for players in the areas of injury, and player development.
If the NFL was to change to a 18 game schedule the main thing that would be effected is the statistics. There would always a controversy of the asterik. The same thing happpen
The only reason the NFL is thinking about extending the season is in order to increase revenue. They can say that they're doing it so that people won't lose their jobs but I think that they're merely looking at profit margins. With that being said, it is true that less jobs would be lost with a longer season, which is obviously a benefit. But where does the consideration for the players come into this? Enough players battle injuries as it is, I don't like the idea of working them for even longer and giving them more opportunities to get hurt. There are already reports of former players who are suffering from big health problems in their old age, I think we need to consider that before extending the season.
ReplyDelete