NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell visited on Thursday with Dan Patrick,
and Goodell talked about the possible expansion of the regular season
and, in turn, the potential shrinkage of the preseason. (The audio
will be available on demand at Dan’s web site.)
Goodell said that a change would come in 2010 at the earliest, and
that it would be tied to the ongoing labor agreement talks with the
union and the broadcasting contracts with the networks.
But the contracts with FOX, CBS, and NBC run through the 2011
season, and the deal with ESPN expires after 2013. Thus, any deal done
before 2013 would need to take into account a system for paying the NFL
for the extra regular-season games.
An expansion of the regular season most likely would result in a
reduction of the preseason, since Goodell mentioned several times the
concept of the 20-game season. Goodell also might have committed an
unintended slip regarding the number of additional regular-season games
that the league is targeting when he said that the league would not be
expanding the season, but that the league would only be “converting two
preseason games.” If they keep the 20-game season, this would mean 18
regular-season contests.
But we’re not sure that the best approach is to go straight to 18.
We think that it makes more sense to play 17 regular-season games
initially, especially since it gives the league sixteen games that
could be played at neutral sites in other countries (and, as we’ve
argued in the past, Los Angeles) without having any team play more home
games than any other team.
With 18 regular-season games, there would still be complaints and
concerns regarding the inequity of some teams having more home games
than others, unless 32 games are played at neutral sites.
Regardless, there are details that can be worked out at the
appropriate time. For now, the good news is that the regular season
could grow a bit, and the preseason could in turn shrink a lot.
thoughts?

i like the idea. that would screw up the record books though.