NFL owners voted to approve a 17-game schedule schedule earlier this week in the worst-kept secret perhaps in the history of sports.
In fact, the move to 17 regular season and three preseason games was a major part of the 2020 CBA negotiations. As part of that deal, approved last year before the COVID-19 shutdown, owners had the OK from the NFLPA to go to a 17-game schedule at any point during the new CBA, which runs through 2030.
That doesn't mean players are happy about it.
Shit dumb... as hell.. https://t.co/HnJ0otzzWp
— Alvin Kamara (@A_kamara6) March 28, 2021
Here's the thing. If Alvin Kamara and other players who were against a 17-game schedule were so adamant against it, they should have done a better job of convincing their fellow players of the evils of it. Instead, the CBA was passed 1,019 to 959.
Players, like the owners who wanted the 17-game schedule, voted with their pocket books. At least most of them did.
Owners get increased revenue with more games. The players got increases in minimum salaries in 2020 because of the new deal and now get a half-percentage increase in their cut of the league's revenues because of the move to 17 games. And before you say a 1/2 percent point increase isn't much, realize the league just signed new TV deals that are for more than $10 billion per year.
The players are doing OK in this deal.
The real winner will be fans. They'll have more meaningful football.
As it was before, each team hosted 10 games each season -- eight regular season and two preseason games. And those who had season tickets paid the same amount for those preseason games as they did for their regular season tickets.
Now, they'll pay for one fewer preseason game every two years. Not perfect, but better.
A 17-game season also gives fans a chance to see their team match up against players from the other conference more often than the once every four years that they previously had done. In 2021, for example, Steelers fans will have the chance to see Russell Wilson and the Seahawks, something they wouldn't have had the opportunity to do for another six years. And by that time, Wilson might be retired.
And spare me the cries of records being broken in a 17-game season. There are no "sacred records" in football. Most can't tell you who the single-season rushing, passing or interception leaders are.
YOUR TURN: Are you a fan of the NFL moving to a 17-game schedule?
