Huge shake up to NFL schedule could see the Super Bowl move to Presidents’ Day weekend – finally giving fans the day after off work
- Roger Goodell also said he is “not a fan” of the preseason and hopes to scrap it
- The NFL hopes to add another regular season game to accommodate the schedule shift
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Fans may soon lose the worry of having to skip work after the Super Bowl, as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell floated the idea of moving the season finale to Presidents Day Weekend.
The move comes as Goodell looks to restructure the league’s schedule. While most regular season games will remain, Goodell hopes to add one more by eliminating the preseason.
During an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, the commissioner talked about his ideas.
‘I think we’re good at seventeen [games] now,” Goodell said. ‘But listen, we’ll see how we move forward. I’m not a fan of preseason. The reality is that I would rather replace a preseason game with a regular season game. That’s just picking quality.’
“If we get 18 and 2, that’s not unreasonable,” he added. “The other thing it does (Super Bowl Sunday) ends on Presidents’ Day weekend, which is a three-day weekend, which makes it Sunday night and then you have Monday off.”
Roger Goodell ‘considering moving the Super Bowl to Presidents Day Weekend’
The idea came about after years of fans fearing having to go to work the day after the big game
The reconstruction of the NFL schedule comes at a time when Goodell hopes to cancel the preseason
While fans will undoubtedly be happy to hear about this potential change, players may not be so happy if the preseason is scrapped for an extra regular season game.
Aside from taking away a valuable opportunity for teams and players to get their reps, athletes have long raised concerns about the health and safety risks of adding a new game. When the NFL extended the 16-game regular season in 2021, the decision barely passed with 51 percent of the NFLPA’s vote.
‘They actually just say 17 so they can get to 18 [games],” former player Richard Sherman said at the time. “So that’s two more opportunities for players to risk their bodies [and] to put their bodies on the line.”
Additionally, Goodell talked about expanding the international schedule as the NFL continues to garner global fandom.
“I honestly think that in ten years we will be playing sixteen matches internationally,” he said. “I think we’ll try to get to eight or nine in the next couple of years.”
The NFL has not yet taken any meaningful steps toward changing the regular season structure. Any proposed changes to the schedule would have to be collectively negotiated through the NFLPA.