Big Talk Around NFL Season Extension/Shortening of Pre-season

During the current NFL owner’s meetings, there are some interesting propositions on the table, including the lengthening of the season, farther into February. There are very few arguments and fans against this extension of the season. Shortening of the Preseason? Well, that might just give big-headed rookies more time to get signed before the first exhibition. One draw-back is waiting for the exhibition games to start though, because those are the first football action anyone sees, even before college football. The other draw-back is the fact that old records will be in jeopardy (is that all bad?).

Overview of happenings at the owner’s meetings:

NFL OWNERS’ MEETINGS 2009

Posh resort site: NFL defends swanky meeting location in midst of layoffs, down economy

Expanded regular season?: Move to 17 or 18 games could push Super Bowl to Presidents’ Day

Uncapped year: Goodell says NFL not expecting salary cap to expire in 2010

Schedule details: Steelers to host Titans in opening game of 2009

Economy 101: Goodell, owners set to meet in forum dominated by poor economics, CBA strategy

Beer sponsorships?: NFL may tap alcohol, lottery revenue streams

Rice’s message: Ex-Sec’y of State tells owners Europe, Australia would be good home to NFL

The Huddle blog updates: Tracke the meetings all week in USA TODAY’s NFL blog

Here is the USA Today Article:

Super Bowl on Presidents Day? Longer NFL season in reach

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell could be handing out the Lombardi Trophy on Presidents Day if the league expands its regular-season schedule.

By Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY

DANA POINT, Calif. — Talk about the Super Bowl as a national holiday.

How about as a lead-in to Presidents Day?

The prospect of extending the NFL’s calendar and staging the league’s signature event in the latter half of February is gaining momentum as team owners contemplate an expanded schedule with a typical end-game mission: More money.

NFL teams have played a 16-game regular-season schedule (with four preseason games) since 1978, but owners have their sights on either a 17- or 18-game regular season and a shorter preseason that could be implemented as early as 2011.

The additional games would be tacked on to the back end of the current calendar, which owners feel would create added value for their network TV contracts because like the Super Bowl, the conference title games would be played in February — a sweeps month that TV networks use to set advertising rates.

“If we’re going to keep labor peace, we’ve got to grow and expand,” said New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, chairman of the league’s broadcasting committee. Including the preseason, “we’re going to play these games, anyway. How do we make them as meaningful as possible?”

At the moment, an expanded schedule is in the debate and analysis stage. It’s possible league owners will vote on proposals at their next meetings in May. After that, it would likely become a key component in talks with the players union for a new labor deal. The league’s existing collective bargaining agreement ends after the 2010 season. There’s also the matter of defining the value of more games, as part of network TV contracts.

“It’s dependent, by a large part,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said, “on our relationship with our partners and the players.”

Still, many owners seem to agree that the status quo of a 16-game regular season won’t cut it.

Said Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, “I’m for 17 games, not 18. We need three preseason games.”

Tweaking the schedule by altering the ratio of regular-season games and preseason games by just one game might cause a major adjustment in team operations.

“I’m in favor of it, but there are so many details to sort out,” said Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay.

A longer regular-season schedule would undoubtedly add value for fans who have grumbled about paying regular-season prices for preseason games as part of season-ticket plans. But an alteration might also increase injury risk for frontline players who might play sparingly during the preseason, but endure more wear-and-tear with an extra regular-season game.

Also, while owners have resisted increases to the 53-man roster, an expanded schedule could increase roster sizes in addition to bolstering the number of developmental players on practice squads.

“It might create 100 new jobs,” Kraft said, pondering the notion of expanding the practice squads from six to eight or 10 players, but not necessarily the 53-man roster. “That will all be part of the discussion. This is part of our labor discussion.”

Other attached issues:

•Imbalanced schedules. With a 17-game season, half of the league’s teams would have nine home games, while the other half would have eight. That could wreak havoc on the competitive balance that has been a staple to help fuel playoff races.

•An expanded playoff field. To make the games at the end of the regular-season meaningful, the league would likely consider increasing the field of playoff qualifiers from 12 teams to 14.

“The biggest concern is that I’ve liked the way we’ve had the playoffs as a really elite thing to get in,” said Irsay. “There are 32 teams, and only 12 get in, unlike the NBA and some other leagues where a lot of people get in. It will probably be hard to keep it that way when you’re talking about more games at the end of the season. Do you want those games to mean something that you’re adding at the end of the year?”

Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay and Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher, co-chairmen of the rule-making competition committee, didn’t have to make concrete recommendations about an expanded schedule this time around.

But they know it’s coming. After briefing the media Monday on rulebook changes for the coming season, Fisher was asked about the possibility of playing a 17- or 18-game season. He said he wondered how an altered schedule would affect how he uses players in preseason and training camp, not to mention designs for the entire offseason routine. McKay, meanwhile, figures there could be a need to address rules for injured reserve.

In recent years, the committee has studied formulas for re-seeding the playoffs. Soon, they will likely grapple with the notion of an expanded playoff field — rejected in the past by owners — as part of an expanded schedule.

“All of those issues will have to be discussed,” McKay said. “When we went down that path before, there were a lot of traditionalists who didn’t want to go from 12 to 14 (playoff teams). But that was with a 16-game schedule. It will be interesting to see where it goes.”