The 17th game

[PolarVortex]

Maybe I'm slow and the last one to come to this conclusion, but I'm beginning to think that adding one more game to the 16-game schedule had ulterior motives. With 16 games you have an even split with 8 home games, 8 away games. Adding a 17th ngame frees up the NFL to have games in places where neither competing team has homefield advantage (Foreign soil). Is it the ultimate goal in future seasons that all 32 teams play one game per year in a city that is not an NFL city?

 

[ill]

I have a friend who works for ticketing for the Bills and he told us a few years ago that the goal was to have each team play a game overseas each year.

so, yes, you are correct.

 

[Superbelt]

I think they just want more games, doesn't matter where they are played, they just want to wring out as much as they can. They are incrementally pushing, and they are already talking about going to 18 games.

NFL moving to 18-game schedule seems inevitable: Breaking down logistics, player safety, playoff seeding, more

Many are speculating the league could expand to 18 games beginning in the 2027 season

www.cbssports.com

Each week they add to the schedule brings in more money.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

I think they just want more games, doesn't matter where they are played, they just want to wring out as much as they can. They are incrementally pushing, and they are already talking about going to 18 games.

NFL moving to 18-game schedule seems inevitable: Breaking down logistics, player safety, playoff seeding, more

Many are speculating the league could expand to 18 games beginning in the 2027 season

www.cbssports.com

Each week they add to the schedule brings in more money.

No longer a question of if, it's a matter of when they add that 18th game to the schedule. My guess is by 2027, just as the article suggests.

 

[Moab]

I posted this before...so here it is again

The more preseason games I watch the more I think the NFL should go to 18 regular season games with 2 preseason games. There are just too many stadiums that are 1/2 full, most teams play their starters very limited amounts of time to risk exposure and they're not really going into the games with anything other than vanilla O and base D. Most use it for reps to see what guys could have potential for injury replacement, practice squads and development. Basically the preseason has become almost obsolete.

I'm guessing we'll see that 18 game schedule in the next CBA. My thoughts are they should have 2 bye weeks and the byes should happen in a 4 week span. Something along the lines of all AFC teams are off week 6 and 13 and all NFC teams are off on 7 and 14, then flip it for the next season. That would also get rid of the imbalance of bye weeks and all teams have the same rest periods when they're playing.