NFL Sanctions 17 Game Season, Optimistic Fans Will Be Back

NFL fans will be happy to know that the richest sporting league in America is looking forward to having packed stadiums for the 2021 season. The NFL has also made a key decision in expanding the regular season to 17 games starting from this season.

The 2021 NFL season will commence on Sep 9, 2021 and will finish on Feb 6, 2022. The SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles will host Super Bowl LVI on Feb 13 while the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas will host the Pro Bowl on Feb 6.

The NFL like most sports leagues around the world is looking to increase its revenues. One of the main ways the NFL is going to do this is to expand its regular season to 17 games.

This decision was discussed for a long time but earlier this week, the NFL approved it after NFL players confirmed they were in favour to the expansion based on their collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

ESPN

To meet the requirements of the CBA, the NFL has decided to reduce the number of preseason games and keep it to 3 instead of the usual 4. The CBA agreement limits the total number of games per season to 20.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was very happy to see the NFL finally expand its regular season to 17 games and reduce the preseason to 3 games. Goodell said NFL league data showed that most of the player injuries occurred during preseason games. He said the final decision was based on data and scientific facts that worked out well for both the players and the league.

The NFL is also expected to play a minimum of one international game from 2022. The international locations that could host NFL games going forward include Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico as well as other countries in Europe and South America.

NFL Commissioner Wants Packed Stadiums

Commissioner Goodell also said that he was very optimistic that NFL stadiums would be packed to capacity during the 2021 season. The NFL had to ban fans from coming during the 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic and it caused significant financial losses for the NFL.

The NFL is staying positive that the COVID-19 situation will be brought under control with COVID vaccines by the time the new NFL season starts on Sep 9.