Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Could the NFL be headed towards a 17-game season? Steelers owner Art Rooney II thinks it’s likely.
Roger Goodell and NFL owners have been hinting at such a change to the schedule for years now, and despite it not officially being on the docket just yet — as in the NFLPA hasn’t agreed to such a rule change — some owners feel quite confident that a deal will be struck heading into the 2021 season.
More games means more money for both sides, especially due to mammoth television and media contracts being signed before this season. However, playing more games also puts the players at further injury risk. Because of this, NFLPA reps must weight their options, and at least make sure the revenue split is worthwhile should they agree to take on another game of regular season action.
Is a 17-game schedule really necessary?
“The 17-game schedule I think will work out well,” Rooney said, via the team’s website. “Obviously, this year will be the first year for it, so we’ll get a chance to see how it goes. I think we will reduce the preseason by one game. It will be a similar kind of schedule in terms of the calendar, but we will just turn one of the preseason games into a regular season a game, which I think all of us would appreciate. I feel good about it, I hope it works, and I look forward to seeing how it does in 2021.”
The NFL is getting greedy, but don’t expect the players to get in their way. First, the league will take away one preseason game as to even things out. Add in an extra playoff team, and the money to be made in such a scenario is tremendous.
Rooney II is right to be confident in this matter.