By The Wunderdog

The NFL is considering moving to an 18-game schedule in 2011 or 2012. Is this a good move or not?

While it’s obviously a good move for owners (more revenue), some players and fans have expressed concern. The arguments against going to 18-games have consisted of:

  1. Extra wear and tear on players
  2. Watered-down meaning of games (each game is less important to making playoffs)
  3. It works now – why mess with success

To the people making these arguments, I say – get over it!

I believe an 18-game regular season schedule for the NFL would be a great thing for virtually everyone including fans, players and owners.

The benefits of an 18-game regular season are obvious. More football!

Who needs more football? We do. The NFL is the most popular sport in the United States – by a long shot. Nothing else even comes close. But, it’s the shortest season in professional sports! What’s wrong with that picture? Consider the facts:

  • A recent (2009) Harris poll revealed that the NFL is the favorite pro sport of more people than the next three most-favorite combined (MLB, NASCAR, NBA).
  • The highest rated television shows each year are NFL games. More people watch the SuperBowl than any other event. In 2008, 225 million Americans watched NFL games the regular season – 100 million more than the record number of Americans who voted in the 2008 presidential election!
  • The MLB All-Star game is the most-watched baseball game every season (outside of the World Series). Played in July, it has zero competition from other sports. That most-watched MLB game got lower viewership this season than did the NFL preseason game between the Broncos and Steelers in week three. Re-read that if you’d like – a meaningless NFL exhibition game is more popular than the most popular regular-season MLB game!

If that doesn’t show there is an appetite for more football, than I am not sure what does. The travesty of the current situation is that the nation’s most popular sport is the one with the shortest season. MLB fans get seven months of daily baseball. NBA and NHL fans get eight months of action. Those sports combined don’t equal the popularity of the NFL. Yet, NFL fans get only five months. It’s just wrong.

So given the enormous appetite for more NFL, why wouldn’t we want to expand the regular season by 12.5% (from 16 to 18 games)? Let’s look at the objections (and break them down):

Extra wear and tear on players

I understand players wanting to make sure they get their fare share of any increase in the size of the pie. That’s fair. But complaining about having to play two extra games is lame. You guys are professionals – very highly paid professionals. Suck up and do your job. If you don’t  like it, I am sure there are a million other guys out there willing to trade places with you. Will it add a bit extra wear and tear on your bodies? Yes. But you can handle it. And, it doesn’t make the season any longer at all.

Watered-down meaning of games (each game is less important to making playoffs)
Carson Palmer has been outspoken saying, “With 16 games, every game is important and therefore the fans are very into it, the stadiums are packed because they know if their team loses, it pushes them further and further away from making the playoffs. I think if you go to 18, each game kind of loses a little bit of its significance.”

Puhleeease. Is Carson saying that the games will now become less meaningful? As I see it, winning each game will still remain of utmost importance. With a 16 game schedule, a team generally needs to win 10 games to ensure making the playoffs. With an 18-game schedule, that number will likely move to 11. What’s the big difference? Seriously, is Palmer suggesting that somehow all of a sudden losing games won’t matter? Does he think players or coaches are going to try any less hard on Sundays? And does he think for a minute that the “packed stadiums” will somehow have empty seats or that fans won’t be “into it” anymore? This is just ridiculous. I actually think the real reason Palmer and other players are bitching is so they can get paid more. In the end, they know this is likely coming and they want to have a bargaining chip to increase their salaries when it does.

It works now – why mess with success

This is the weakest of the arguments. Proponents of this claim simply that 16 games has worked for so long and it shouldn’t be tampered with. Really? Leather helmets worked for a long time too. Goal posts at the front of the end zone worked just fine for a while. The Denver Broncos’ brown and yellow striped uniforms worked well in the 60s.

broncos throwback

And, I am sure Jared Allen thought his mullet was just great at the time he was sporting it. Does that mean change is always bad? Of course not. Get over the fear of change – sometimes it’s much needed.

In the end, the 18-game season is likely coming. And, that’s a great thing for fans and owners. It’s not so bad for players either who get to expand the presence of their industry and make it even more popular (if that’s possible). And, for those of us who like to wager on the NFL, it means two more weekends of action. What’s not to love?

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