The NFL’s 18-game regular season might not happen in 2027, but will be catastrophic when it does. Per reports, an expansion is “highly unlikely” next year, but “still not impossible”. The league has not announced a date for the 2028 Super Bowl in Atlanta, giving it the flexibility to adopt an expanded schedule. The current point of contention for its adoption is a second bye week, which the NFLPA is pushing for. The expanded season would cause tangible damage to league, and has ramifications for the sports industry as a whole.
Reasons Why The NFL’s 18-Game Regular Season Would Be Terrible
An extended schedule would have serious implications on players’ health going into the postseason. Since increasing the regular season to 17 games, there has been a significant increase in soft tissue injuries (like hamstrings and calf strains), going from 23% of total injuries to 40%. Adding an additional game on top of that would be insanity, for a league that is already struggling with what are essentially overuse injuries. Not to mention, an 18-game slate goes against the league’s recent posturing for players’ well-being.
Adding another game to the regular season would also push the limits of season length for football. With the season starting in July for training camp, an 18-game schedule would force the Super Bowl to be on the last weekend in February. The season would be more than a human body can withstand, and would test the boundaries of how much football fans are willing to consume. With the discussion of the NFL putting more games on streaming platforms, there’s a real risk that the league is spreading itself too thin with an inferior product at the end of a long season.
An expanded season would impact the history of the game as well. Some of the most hallowed records in league history have fallen since the adoption of a 17-game schedule, most notably the single-season sack record. Adding another game when rules are tilted in favor of offense means that the league will regularly have mediocre quarterbacks throwing for 5,000 yards. This tarnishes the legacy of the NFL (and changes the complexion of the top QBs ever), and fans of the game will suffer because of it.
The 18-game slate also has ramifications for the other sports leagues. A February 28 Super Bowl means that less people are watching NBA and NHL games with playoff implications. Spring training for baseball would get almost no coverage from major outlets, and major sporting events like the Daytona 500 would be an afterthought. These sports leagues don’t have the flexibility to shift their schedules within a year’s time, so an 18-game regular season would be catastrophic to the sports industry as a whole.
The NFL’s desire to have an 18-game regular season reeks of corporate greed. The league clearly wants to have an expanded slate of games ahead of new CBA and broadcasting deals, regardless of the detrimental effects that it would have. Having another game would likely mean another inter-conference match-up based on standings, which is good from a competition standpoint. Despite this, the cost of this game is simply too much, and the league’s greed could backfire.
