NFL to expand the playoffs and regular season?
The renewal for the NFL CBA with the NFLPA is almost arriving. In recent months, and to that extent even years, the NFL has been rumored to expand the regular season and the playoffs. This has been floated around NFL circles and for the most part, has been dead on arrival. With the new CBA looming, George takes a look at why this could get brought up and his arguments against it. One case that has been used on Twitter is that the NFL is fine how it is. With the 16 game NFL season and the potential total of 19 games overall, the NFL makes a ton of money. Expanding the season would only be an extension of that. The more games played means a longer time for the NFL to dominate the media circle.
Business
From a business point of view, the new NFL CBA expanding the season is a slam dunk. This would potentially make the NFL last until early March and thus give around a one to two months of downtime before the combine and NFL Draft. This would give the NFL a stronghold on the media, potentially, for the whole year.
Players
From a player point of view, it’s exhausting. With injuries happening every year in OTAs alone, it will bring the potential of more and more injuries and creating a stressful situation. The NFL will have to load up the Brinks truck for the players and more guaranteed money if it wants to implement this style of NFL cycle. The stress will affect them in numerous ways and put their bodies through experiences they’ve never had before. The more pressure on the body will have players careers lasting for less and less time.
Coaches
The coaches could be screwed as well. They will ultimately get their money, but this will require them to spend less time with their families. The less time with family and the more mental stress could cause some severe issues for coaches new and old. The more mental stress they will have to go through the worse it could be for them and the players. Thus creating less of an opportunity for them to excel. This does apply to players as well.