How will adding a 17th game to the regular season and playing it outside the US affect the NFL?

Answer 1

I am all for more football but I think this is a terrible idea...

I think the NFL is getting greedy here in sacrificing the players well-being for a chance at a bigger fan base.Another week is another chance to get hurt before the playoffs. For rookies it is even worse since they are only used to playing 11 or 12 games per year. I think NFL Europa shows there isn't really a fan base to be had outside of Germany.

I bet the players are against it and the owners/league are for it. I bet the fans can basically care less.

Answer 2

I havent read all the other answers but it is obviously motivated by money . It's hard enough for the skill players to get thorough a 16 game season and playoffs without getting hurt . The last thing they need is another game on top of what they have to go through . Watch any show about retired players and how screwed up they are after a 10 year career in the NFL alot of these players are from the 14 game season era , and they are a mess . I think the NFL needs to be a little more concerned about their players when it's all said and done .

Answer 3

A 17th game is a stupid idea motivated by money, money, money. One of the real draws of the NFL is each game is soooo important that you gotta attend or watch. One of the reasons people pay less attention to the NBA is there is so many games, who cares about one game?

If the NFL wants to slowly and economically build it's brand outside the U.S. and inside the U.S., the answer is simple: 1. play the ProBowl game in a different country each year. That way fans in different countries can see the very best players while getting familar with rules of the game; 2. Instead of a 17th regular season game, go back to when the NFL had a team of College All-stars play an NFL team. Have a group of College All-stars, including every one of the players drafted in the first round of the NFL draft that spring, play the team with the worst record in the NFL as an exhibition game in a different country each year. Do it as an exhibition game in June when the NFL is basically on hiatus. The coaching staffs of the two SuperBowl teams have to coach, with the winning SuperBowl team coaching the College All-Stars and the losing SuperBowl team staff coaching the NFL team.

Answer 4

This idea reminds of the IBM commercials....what is our global integration stragtegy. I do not like the 17th game idea personally, as much as I love football I think 16 games is enough. I think this messes up the current schedule, bye weeks, preseason, playoffs etc. Also playing games in other countries? You here every Tuesday morning about whoever played in the Monday night game will have 1 less day to prepare for the next opponent they play on sunday. what kind of unfair advantage would you have if you are a team that played sunday in the US and played against a team who played in tokyo the week before. I think you would see team that stayed in the US would have amuch higher winning percentage than team who were international the week before a game. There are also legal issues, what if a player get accused of a crime in another country and can't travel back with his team? In the US we give players a long leash, they might not get that in another country. I dont agree with the long leash but it happens and could be much harsher penalties in other countries. If anything get a good NFL Europe program built and let it travel the globe to allow people to see good games. The other thing we could do it built 8 Europe based or foreign based teams and incorporate them into the NFL, one in the AFC and one in the NFC. Go to a 40 team league and play standard 16 games with those 8 teams having home and away games like our 32 do now. That way the people outside the US have teams and can cheer for their home team instead of whoever visits that week. The other issue with 17 games is records, that would start a whole new era of season long record breaking, and I want LT to break emmitt's record legit not half in 16 games and half in 17. So in conclusion I say keep it at 16, limit preseason to 3 games, 4 is too many, and add 8 NFL teams across Europe and Asia to compete with our existing 32 teams.

Answer 5

I would love to see the NFL add a 17th game! But if they are going to, I would prefer they play it in the US. Spreading the love of football is good, but playing it outside the US might not interest a lot of other people. Say if we were to play a game of football in Japan or Russia, I'm not so sure the people there would really understand the game and if you don't understand a game, it sometimes doesn't appear as interesting. Football is a complicated game and many of us have been football fans from our fathers who taught us the game. In other countries, they won't know a lot and it will be taught. The NFL game in London apparantly had a great amount of interest and it's possible that we could play more games outside the US. London's game this year apparantly has great interest around it and the one in Mexico a few years back was a success. We'll wait and see what the NFL does.

Answer 6

The only two countries that would work for that is Canada and Mexico. To go to Europe or Asia the NFL would need a buy a week before and after, just so the players and coaches can travel and get use to the time changes. Also going outside the Western hemisphere hurts the current fans. How could we watch live games, and still live are normal lives.

As far as I'm concerned this is a bad idea. Go to Canada and Mexico, maybe Even south America but that's it.

Answer 7

Everyone knows that Soccer( world football) is the most popular sport in the world. Because, it is all over the world. Playing an extra game, which will be in another country, will bring more people into the era of the modern day gladiators. There is American football being played now with the CFL, NFL Europe and the Team USA football teams traveling to different countries but none of these leagues has the same impact of the NFL.

Answer 8

I think it will be a huge success. Look at MLB,NBA, and even the NHL and how much interest is generated from outside the US. Its a global economy, NFL would be like Ichiro, Yoa Ming, and Toni Parker. It would generate more interest, which increases fan base which increases merchandise sales which help generate revenue. TV alone will make it profitable. I like the idea of shorting the pre season, most teams just already have their team set by the third game anyway. I rather pay for a 17 game than an extra pre season game.Plus the NFL is King of the major sports leagues it markets itself. the Super Bowl is a true American holiday and event, its too temping not to pursue it abroad.

Answer 9

It would work, but the logistics would be a nightmare. You would either have to have every team do it the same week, so no team gains an advantage by playing a team following an overseas week, or you would have to couple the game with the bye week. Plus, you then have to deal with passports and customs. Any NFL player on probation would have to go through the courts to determine whether or not they can make the trip. But then again, maybe this is the way that the new commissioner wants to try to "punish" teams that bring in guys to their teams with character issues. There are just too many negatives at this point to seriously consider this option in my opinion.

Answer 10

Other than bumping the playoffs and Super Bowl back a week, (or start the season 1 week earlier or lose one pre-season game), it wouldnt affect things that much in the short term......The long term effect would be all of the current records that stand would be useless.....Then any future records will not be able to be compared to the old records that were set in 16 game seasons....especially season and career stats.....The "17th game" would definitely have to be held at a neutral site to keep teams from having one more home game for the season than other teams, that means 16 games out of the US, that's a lot if you ask me... I cant think of that many places to play outside of the Us that could fill a stadiumm......I'm sure the league would like the revenue though..... Also many contracts that players have would be affected since they probally have them worded only to play in the current 16 game format....They will want paid for that extra game I'm sure......My opinion, it will never happen..... Games outside the US will be very few, maybe only pre season....It also takes the game away from the fans who wont be able to attend their teams games......Too many cons for this to work, not enough pros.....