Why Did the NFL Go to 17 Games?

The NFL’s recent decision to add an extra game to the regular season has been met with mixed reactions. Some people think it’s a great idea that will add more excitement to the sport, while others believe it’s a money-grab that will only lead to more player injuries. So, why did the NFL go to 17 games? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of this controversial decision.

Introduction

The National Football League (NFL) has seen many changes over the years, but one of the most recent and controversial is the switch to a 17-game regular season. This means that each team will now play one additional game over the course of the season, resulting in more revenue for the league and its teams. But why did the NFL make this change? Let’s take a closer look.

There are a few primary reasons for why the NFL decided to go to a 17-game season. Firstly, it means more revenue for the league as a whole. With each team playing one additional game, that means more tickets sold, more merchandise sold, and more money coming in for the NFL. Additionally, it also means that each team has a better chance of making it to the playoffs. With an extra game played, there are more opportunities for teams to rack up wins and clinch a spot in the postseason.

However, not everyone is on board with this change. Some fans argue that it puts too much strain on players’ bodies and increases the risk of injury. Others believe that it will make the regular season less meaningful as there will be more games played overall. And finally, some people simply don’t like change and would prefer if things stayed the way they were.

Whether you love or hate this change, one thing is for sure: it’s here to stay. The NFL is moving forward with a 17-game regular season, so we’ll just have to wait and see how things pan out.

The NFL’s History

The National Football League was founded in 1920 with 11 teams. Since then, the NFL has changed a lot – there are now 32 teams in the league, and the season has been lengthened to 17 games. So, why did the NFL go to 17 games? Let’s take a look.

Pre-1920

The National Football League’s roots date back to the late 1800s, when a number of small regional leagues began popping up across the country. One of these leagues was the American Professional Football Association, which was founded in 1920. The Association began with just 11 teams, all of them located in the Midwest.

1920-1949

The first attempt at a professional football league was the National Football League (NFL), which was formed in 1920. The NFL’s first president was Jim Thorpe, an Olympic gold medalist and famous Native American athlete. The league initially consisted of 14 teams, all of which were based in the Northeast and Midwest.

1921 saw the addition of the Akron Pros, who won the first NFL championship. The next year, the Pros were joined by the Chicago Bears, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Hunchbacks, and New York Giants. These 16 teams played a standardized schedule during the NFL’s inaugural season.

In 1922, the league expanded to 18 teams with the addition of the Buffalo All-Americans, Chicago Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals), and Cincinnati Celts (no relation to today’s Boston Celtics). The All-Americans won that year’s championship.

The next few years saw more teams come and go, as well as some changes in strategy. For example, in 1924, implementation of red zone rules allowed forward passes from anywhere inside an opponent’s 20-yard line. This rule change opened up the game and caused scoring to increase dramatically. In 1929, a player could be freely replaced for any reason during a game; before this change, substitutions could only be made if a player was injured.

The 1930s were a decade of innovation for the NFL. In 1933, the first live radio broadcast of an NFL game took place; one year later, NFL games began to be broadcast on television. In 1935, helmet use became mandatory; previously, only players on offense had been required to wear them. Rules regarding downs and yardage were also standardized during this decade.

1940 saw another significant rule change: televising of games was banned until after World War II ended in 1945. It was thought that live broadcasts might interfere with wartime production efforts. Several new teams join

1950-1969

The National Football League (NFL) was founded in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA) with ten teams from four states. The league had several changes in name and membership over its first two decades, but in 1922 it settled on “National Football League” as its official moniker. In 1966, the NFL absorbed its main rival, the American Football League (AFL), creating a strong 16-team league that became even stronger when it merged with the APFA.

Today, the NFL is America’s most popular sport, but it wasn’t always that way. In the early years of the twentieth century, college football was king. However, professional football slowly began to catch on, and by the 1930s it had become a serious challenger to college football’s popularity. The arrival of television in the 1950s helped propel professional football to the top of the sports world, where it has remained ever since.

The NFL’s transformation from a small regional league to a national phenomenon was complete by 1970, when it reached an agreement with the AFL to merge the two leagues. This merger created a strong 16-team league that became even stronger when it absorbed another rival league, the World Football League (WFL), in 1974. Since then, the NFL has only continued to grow in popularity, becoming America’s favorite sport.

1970-1989

In 1970, the NFL and AFL completed their merger, creating one league with two conferences. As part of the merger agreement, a common draft was instituted and a championship game, later to be known as the Super Bowl, was created to pit the champions of each conference against each other.

In 1973, the NFL adopted a 14-game regular season schedule with two bye weeks for each team. The NFL had experimented with 14-game schedules in both 1967 and 1968 before expanding to 16 games in 1969. During this time,NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle also negotiated television contracts that gave all NFL teams revenue sharing from national television broadcasts for the first time in league history.

In 1978, the NFL expanded from 28 to 30 teams with the addition of the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The length of the regular season was increased from 14 games to 16 games.

The 1982 season saw another expansion, this time to 32 teams, with the addition of the New Orleans Saints and Houston Oilers. The length of the regular season remained at 16 games.

1984 saw yet another expansion, this time to 34 teams with

1990-2009

From 1990 to 2009, the NFL lights up living rooms every Sunday with exciting action, thrilling comebacks and memorable moments.

The league also made huge strides off the field during this time period. In 1993, the NFL saw its first African American head coach when Arizona Cardinals’ Defensive Coordinator Buddy Ryan was hired as head coach. In 1995, the league implemented instant replay to help officiating crews make the correct call on close plays.

And in 2002, the NFL realigned its divisions for the first and only time in its history, going from six divisions to eight. The new alignment was done to account for the league’s expansion from 30 to 32 teams with the addition of the Houston Texans.

The 2010s

The NFL regular season has consisted of 16 games since 1978. In the 2010s, however, the league added two additional games to the schedule, expanding the regular season to 18 games. This change was not universally popular among fans, players, and coaches. Some people argue that the additional games add too much wear and tear on players’ bodies, while others believe that the extra games provide more opportunities for fans to watch their favorite teams. In this article, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of the NFL’s decision to add two additional games to the regular season schedule.

2010-2019

The 2010s were a decade of change in the NFL. The league saw a number of teams move to new cities, the rise of new stars like Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, and a continued focus on player safety. But perhaps the most significant change was the switch to a 17-game regular season.

The decision to add an extra game to the schedule was not an easy one, and it was met with plenty of criticism from fans and pundits alike. But ultimately, the NFL decided that the benefits of an extra game outweighed the risks.

The extra game has allowed the league to generate more revenue, which has been used to invest in player safety initiatives and other important programs. It has also created more opportunities for players to showcase their talents and for fans to see their favorite teams in action.

The 17-game schedule is here to stay, and it has had a positive impact on the NFL and its fans.

2020

The 2020 NFL season was the 101st season of the National Football League (NFL). It began on September 10, 2020 with the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the Houston Texans 34–20 in the NFL Kickoff Game, and ended with Super Bowl LV, the league’s championship game, on February 7, 2021 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

Conclusion

The league expanded the regular season from 16 to 17 games in 2021, with each team playing one additional game. The decision was made in an effort to generate more revenue, as the NFL is the only major American sports league that does not currently have a salary cap. The additional game will also help reduce player fatigue and injuries, as they will now have an extra week of rest during the season.