jimster Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 NFL Looking Closely at Expanding to 17 Games With International Flavor http://sports.iwon.com/news/05102007/v6393.html May 10, 3:31 AM (ET) Email this Story By BARRY WILNER NEW YORK (AP) -Americans always seem to want more pro football. Yet it's the folks abroad who might be getting an extra taste of the NFL in the future. Although talks are extremely preliminary, the NFL is investigating adding a 17th regular-season game and playing it outside the United States. The extra game would take the place of one in the preseason, allowing every team to play once abroad without sacrificing a home match. This year, the Dolphins gave up a home date in Miami to play the New York Giants at Wembley Stadium in London. Two years ago, the Arizona Cardinals played a home game in Mexico City against the San Francisco 49ers. "It is preliminary, but we certainly are putting resources into pulling that together," said Mark Waller, NFL senior vice president, international. "For now, we have the one game per season or two per season outside of the U.S. But we know it can be tough on home fans since we're taking a game away. "So we have asked how do we create more inventory without taking games away from fans? That idea came up in internal conversations and we now have an international committee of owners and we talked it through with them, and they asked us to do some groundwork." While the 17th game won't get off the ground next season, for sure, it could become a staple of the NFL's schedule by 2009 or 2010. But it would present some significant logistical and scheduling challenges. For one, if there is another week to the regular season, does that mean openers played on Labor Day weekend, something the NFL has avoided in recent years? Or does it mean pushing the Super Bowl back a week to the second Sunday in February? Or leaving the title game where it is and eliminating the week off between conference championships and the Super Bowl? "I don't see a huge downside to a week later. The strength of the idea warrants bringing it up for discussion," Waller said. And what about during a Winter Olympics year such as 2010? "It might be an issue for the Olympics," he adds with a laugh. Where would the "foreign games" be played? And how would they be divided? Waller notes that there won't be 16 different venues for the 17th games. More likely would be a "mini-season ticket" of perhaps four games in one city or country. "It is very early, but our thought is what we could end up with is every week there would be one international game," he said. "We won't have all of them on the same week. And what you would do is look at taking, for instance, four games to London. Play a game in Wembley each month, having eight different teams coming through. A game in September, one in October, one in November and one in December. "It's a great opportunity from a fan perspective, because they get half of what a fan in the United States gets, four games to eight." Aside from England, other prime areas to get games would be Germany, which has a half-dozen quality stadiums thanks to last year's World Cup; Mexico; and Canada. Waller doubts Asia or Australia would be targeted because of the travel concerns, but he doesn't dismiss anything. Or anywhere. "It is a complex idea and it will take a lot of work on a number of sides," Waller said. "The beauty of it is it's competitively fair." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tr1 Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 I'd like to see all the pre-season games count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWinzit Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 I'd like to see the preseason cut to 2 or 3 games, the regular season change to 17 games, get rid of the bye week and keep the games in the United States!!! Or just keep things the same because it works so damn well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointyfootball Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 Or just keep things the same because it works so damn well! YESSSSSSSSSSSS! ONLY change I'd like to see them make is shorten the preseason to 3 games. And even that is no big deal. But, otherwise keep things the way they are. Next they're going to want to have 5 wildcard teams in the playoffs or something like that. Playing overseas = "Jump to Conclusions" mat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom [Giants fan] Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 If they did expand to 17, I wonder if they could just have everyone have their bye week at the same time and have a week off from the NFL. I know they never would do it because it would probably cost them a lot of money but with a 17 game schedule, I think everyone should have their bye week around midseason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ouvan59 Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 ']If they did expand to 17' date=' I wonder if they could just have everyone have their bye week at the same time and have a week off from the NFL. I know they never would do it because it would probably cost them a lot of money but with a 17 game schedule, I think everyone should have their bye week around midseason.[/quote']Or even better, just eliminate the bye week altogether which would keep the season the same length as it is now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightbird Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 This is stupid, the NFL is a freaking powerhouse there's no need to tamper with it. The NFL is NOT the NBA, it doesn't need to become a global brand. How far will teams have to travel? What time will the games be played? The NFL teams are OURS, this is not a traveling circus damnit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEavyJumbo85 Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 dumbest plan ever... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointyfootball Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 Or even better, just eliminate the bye week altogether which would keep the season the same length as it is now. I like the bye actually - teams really need it. Maybe not in week 2, but the players need a week to give their bodies some R & R. A team like the Colts last year played in 19 games out of 21 weeks, not including TC and preseason work. Getting rid of the bye AND adding another game is just asking for more injuries IMO. Edit: Plus, that's the one game you can almost always count on AR having the players ready to win. 8-0 if I remember correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsOrlando Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 Bad idea, just leave the freakin scheduling alone and enough with the games being played out of the country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjfootballer Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 This is stupid, the NFL is a freaking powerhouse there's no need to tamper with it. The NFL is NOT the NBA, it doesn't need to become a global brand. How far will teams have to travel? What time will the games be played? The NFL teams are OURS, this is not a traveling circus damnit. :applause: I agree. I don't want this to EVER happen. I like the 16 games. Good round number. Let Europe start their own league. Leave ours alone. Then I want Premiership Regular Season games played in the U.S. They play a 32 game schedule, so 2 games every season here. That is the equivilent of our 1 game. Cut the preseason to 2 games, keep the regular season to 16 and get rid of the 2 weeks between the Conf. Champ. and SB. God, why, why, why. I hate this. This freaks me out. Total BS, Goodell, total BS. Goodell has been the wrong choice all along. What an asshat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedskinzOwnU Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 This is a really dumb idea. Sure it might be great for the NFL (revenue-wise) and fans abroad, and worldwide marketing, but it's stupid for the teams and for domestic fans of the sport. I hope the redskins never have to play an overseas game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottAH87 Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 You know an extra game would be cool, i just heard about this on the radio. they were saying it would be 3 preseason, 17 season games. it sound cool, another game wouldd be cool and an over seas game might also be neat. but i know that i want the last game played here. this season is a perfect example, Dec. 30, Fed EX, Redskins V.S. Cowgirls.Im goin to this game, it would suck if this new idea was implemented and a game like this would be over seas. Just so the nfl could atract more veiwers in europe. coule hundred show up to that while here it will be 90,000 plus screaming fans. So basically sounds cool, just keep the big games here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 The season is fine. It's to much to add more games, enough people get hurt. If anything, I'de like to see teams be able to carry a few more players into the preseason and add a couple of games to that. Then the players who look better in a game than in practice could get a better shot at making the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinSabbath Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 There is a perfect balance with the current schedule system: 32 Teams 2 Conf. with 16 each, 4 divisions with 4 each 16 games Do not mess with mathematic harmony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff_K Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 Leave it at 16 games and keep the NFL in the United States. Shorten the preseason to 2 or 3 games sounds good to me. Make it so the bye week falls between week 6 and week 11 for every team, nobody gets an early bye or a late one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimster Posted May 11, 2007 Author Share Posted May 11, 2007 Leave it at 16 games and keep the NFL in the United States.Shorten the preseason to 2 or 3 games sounds good to me. Make it so the bye week falls between week 6 and week 11 for every team, nobody gets an early bye or a late one. I agree. The mathmatics with the amount of teams and divisions make the current formula a good one. Pre-season needs to be 3 games instead of 4 or 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ouvan59 Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 I like the bye actually - teams really need it. I'm strictly speaking selfishly but I hate the bye. That two weeks between games is unbearable for me. Although after thinking more on it having overseas games would almost assuredly dictate that the bye stays. You are probably looking at Thursday night games for the overseas games to accomodate the added travel time coming and going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
praise_gibbs Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 Roger Goodell needs to go. He has yet to do anything good. If this "plan" does go into effect.. I can see the NFL losing some fanbase. Not enough for it to care because what is a small percentage of lost fanbase when you make billions upong billions a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88Comrade2000 Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 More games yes, but an entire week of games for overseas- no can do. That's 16 games for 1 week. I can see a maybe a handful of games overseas but the majority of the games for that 17th game should be played at neutral sites. Give the rest of the U.S. a taste of nfl football. Browns vs Bengals- 3rd game at the SHOE. Ravens vs Skins- one year, say at UVA and next year at Maryland. That's the only way a 17th game would be acceptable is if most of those 17 games are spread across neutral sites in the U.S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daanie Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 There is a perfect balance with the current schedule system:32 Teams 2 Conf. with 16 each, 4 divisions with 4 each 16 games Do not mess with mathematic harmony Could not agree with you more.. Plus with an extra game all the single season records will be broken... :mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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