Why Is There A Week 18 In The NFL?

Have you ever wondered why there’s a Week 18 in the NFL? Well, there’s a very good reason for it. Find out why right here!

The History of the NFL

The National Football League was founded in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association. The league consisted of 14 teams from Ohio and Pennsylvania. In 1922, the APFA was renamed the National Football League. The league began to expand in 1932 when the Boston Braves were added.

The origins of the NFL

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, and the highest professional level of American football in the world.

The NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA) before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. The NFL agreed to merger with the American Football League (AFL) in 1966, and the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that season; the merger was completed in 1970. Today, the NFL has the highest average attendance (67,591) of any professional sports league in the world and is considered to be one of the most popular sports leagues in America.

The NFL’s early years

The National Football League was founded in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA) with ten teams from four states, all of whom existed in some form as participants of regional late-season competitions. The APFA changed its name to the National Football League in 1922. In 1932, the season was extended from eleven games to thirteen. In 1933, the NFL split into two divisions: the Eastern and Western. Forty years later, a third division—the Central—was added. This structure remained in place until 2002, when the league realigned itself into eight divisions: four each in the NFC and AFC.

In 1960, the APFA was renamed as the National Football League. The league introduced uniform player numbers in 1952 and mandatory use of helmets with face masks in 1957.

The Development of the NFL

The National Football League was founded in 1920, and originally had 14 teams. The league expanded to 18 teams in 1960, with the addition of the Dallas Cowboys and the Minneapolis-St. Paul Vikings. The NFL expanded to 28 teams in 2002, with the addition of the Houston Texans. The most recent expansion was in 2020, when the league added the Las Vegas Raiders and the Carolina Panthers.

The NFL’s expansion

The National Football League (NFL) is an American professional football league. It was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League (AFL) in 1966, and the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that season; the merger was completed in 1970. Today, the NFL has the highest average attendance of any professional sports league in the world and is America’s most popular sport.

The NFL’s seventeen-week regular season runs from early September to late December, with each team playing sixteen games and having one bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, six teams from each conference (four division winners and two wild card teams) qualify for the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, which is usually held on the first Sunday in February and is played between the champions of the NFC and AFC.

The NFL’s TV contracts

In order to bring in revenue, the NFL sells the broadcast rights to its games to networks. The four major networks that currently hold these rights are CBS, NBC, FOX, and ESPN. These networks pay the NFL billions of dollars for the right to show their games. In turn, the NFL distributes this money to its teams. The amount of money each team receives is based on a number of factors, including the size of its market and how well the team performs.

One of the biggest factors in how much money a team receives is the NFL’s TV contracts. These contracts are negotiated every few years and are a major source of revenue for the league. The most recent contracts were signed in 2011 and are worth a total of $27 billion. That’s an average of $1 billion per year!

These contracts are not only a major source of revenue for the league, but they also have a big impact on how the league schedule is structured. In order to maximize viewership and profitability, the NFL wants its games shown on as many different TV networks as possible. That’s why you’ll often see games shown on multiple networks on any given Sunday.

The NFL’s TV contracts are a big reason why there is a Week 18 in the NFL schedule. By having an extra week of games, the league can sell broadcast rights to more networks and bring in more revenue. This extra week also allows for more flexible scheduling throughout the season, which can help prevent games from being cancelled due to weather or other factors.

The current state of the NFL

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, and the highest professional level of American football in the world.

The NFL’s current TV contracts

The NFL’s current TV contracts are the most lucrative in sports history. The league rakes in more than $5 billion per year from its national TV partners — CBS, NBC, FOX and ESPN — and that number is only going to go up when the next round of negotiations begins in 2022.

However, there are some who believe that the NFL’s current TV contracts are actually hurting the league. These critics point to the fact that the NFL’s ratings have declined in recent years, and they believe that it’s because the games are spread out too much on TV. They argue that if the NFL condensed its schedule — say, by eliminating bye weeks and reducing the regular season from 16 games to 14 — then more fans would watch because they wouldn’t have to miss their favorite team’s game every week.

There is some merit to this argument, but it’s also worth noting that the NFL’s ratings decline began long before its current TV contracts were signed. In fact, the decline began during the 2008 season — which was the last time that the NFL negotiated its TV contracts. So, it’s hard to say definitively whether or not the current TV contracts are actually hurting the league.

What is certain, however, is that the NFL is still immensely popular and its TV ratings are still far higher than any other sport. Even with declining ratings, an average of 16.5 million people watched NFL games last season — which is more than double the 8 million who watched MLB games and triple the 5.6 million who watched NBA games. The bottom line is that people are still watching football, and as long as that’s true, there will be a Week 18 in the NFL.

The NFL’s current structure

The National Football League (NFL) is the most popular professional American football league, consisting of 32 teams divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League (AFL) in 1966, forming the AFC–NFC conference championship game that would be known as the Super Bowl.

The NFL’s current structure took place in 2002 with the expansion of the league to 32 teams with the addition of the Houston Texans. This necessitated a realignment that involved adding a fourth division to each conference; these new divisions were referred to as “South” divisions, as they were closest in geography to their preexisting counterparts. The realignment also created eight four-team divisions within each conference, and four playoff berths per conference instead of three; this necessitated moving additional teams into “South” divisions.