What Year Did The NFL Go To 16 Games?

The NFL switched to a 16-game regular season schedule in 1978. Prior to that, the league played a 14-game schedule.

1970

The National Football League (NFL) went to a 16-game schedule in 1978, with each team playing two preseason games and 16 regular-season games. The regular season was expanded from 14 to 16 games in 1978 because of the popularity of the sport and the demand from fans for more games. The NFL had experimented with a 16-game schedule in 1961 and 1962, but it was not until 1978 that the league made the switch on a permanent basis.

The NFL is currently the only major professional sports league in North America that plays a 16-game regular season. The Canadian Football League (CFL) has a 18-game regular season, while Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Hockey League (NHL) all play 82-game seasons.

1974

The National Football League (NFL) went to a 16-game schedule in 1974. The regular season was increased from 14 games to 16 by adding two additional regular-season games to the schedule.

The NFL had been playing a 14-game regular season schedule since its inception in 1920. Prior to 1974, there were four preseason games and ten regular season games. The NFL’s decision to add two additional regular season games was made in order to increase revenue for the league.

The 16-game regular season schedule has remained unchanged since 1974. The NFL has expanded its postseason format several times since 1974, but the number of regular season games has remained at 16.

1978

In 1978, the NFL went to a 16-game schedule, a format that has remained unchanged ever since (although the regular season was shortened to 15 games in both 1982 and 1987 due to labor stoppages).

1982

In response to the NFLPA’s decertification and assault on the reserve clause, the NFL owners locked out the players on July 1, 1987. On August 6, after 53 days of negotiations between the two sides, they reached an agreement. The players got free agency, albeit restricted at first (Plan B free agency would not be instituted until 1993), a salary cap of $37.4 million per team for the 1993 season, and an increase in the minimum salary from $30,000 to $100,000 per year. In return for this increase in revenue-sharing and player salaries, the NFLPA agreed to a shorter 16-game regular season schedule (rather than the current 18 games), beginning in the 1978 season.

1986

In 1986, the NFL expanded from a 14-game regular season to 16 games. The playoffs also expanded that year, going from 10 teams to 12 teams.

1990

The National Football League expanded to 16 games in 1990, Geneva, Switzerland, with each team playing three preseason games and 13 regular-season games.

1994

In 1994, the NFL expanded from 14 games to 16 games.

1998

In 1998, the National Football League (NFL) switched to a 16-game regular season schedule from its previous format of 14 regular season games and three exhibition games. The change increased the length of the NFL season by two weeks and was implemented in order to generate additional revenue for the league. As a result of the switch, each NFL team now plays 16 regular season games and has two bye weeks during the course of the season.

2002

In 2002, the NFL expanded to a 16-game regular season schedule. The extra two games were added to the beginning of the season, so that all teams would play each other at least once during the first eight weeks.

2006

The National Football League (NFL) regular season typically begins in September of each year and ends in December or January. The NFL first played a 16-game season in 1978.

2010

The 2010 NFL season was the 91st regular season of the National Football League. It began on Thursday, September 9, 2010, with the Super Bowl XLIV champion New Orleans Saints defeating the Minnesota Vikings 14–9 at the Louisiana Superdome in a rematch of the previous year’s NFC Championship Game.

One significant change for this season was the league’s realignment that took effect with this season. The league expanded to 32 teams with the addition of the Tucson, Arizona-based Arizona Cardinals and Houston, Texas-based Houston Texans. The clubs were divided into two conferences: The American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC). Each conference is then further divided into four divisions: East, West, North, and South.