The NFL is changing things up in a fairly dramatic fashion this week. The latest vote by the league owners today confirmed that they will be changing the number of games played moving forward. Rather than the usual 16 games, the league will transition to 17 games played throughout the year.
The 17-game schedule will be in place for the 2021 season. The postseason is being trimmed down to just 3 games as part of the agreement. The vote also includes changes to the International play, limiting teams to one neutral site game per 8 seasons. That goes into effect starting in the 2022 season in hopes of limiting travel for teams while also growing the game worldwide.
The move to 17 games has not been very popular among players. Over the last week, we have seen several notable players from around the NFL speak out on the schedule change. New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara blasted the change calling it “dumb as hell’ in a recent interview with ESPN.
The season will start on September 9th and ends on January 9th. Super Bowl LVI will be played on February 13th at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. It will be interesting to see which NFL records fall in the first year with another regular-season game added to the schedule.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has not yet commented on the schedule change, but the opponents for each team’s new games have already been listed.
All of that news and more, this week in the NFL! Check back weekly with GMS Sports for the most up-to-date information on your favorite sports.
