The league may want neutral site championship games, but that doesn’t mean the owners do. The idea will need the approval of 24 owners to become a reality, and that might be a hard sell for teams with weather and/or fan noise that give them a home-field advantage.
Steelers president Art Rooney II strongly opposes the idea.
“I hate the idea,” Rooney said Thursday, via audio from 93.7 The Fan. “I don’t like that at all. My sense is that if you put that up for a vote it wouldn’t pass today, but who knows.”
Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt pushed the idea for a long time, but ownership never went for it.
However, neutral site championship games in the future gained some traction after Bills and Chiefs fans bought 50,000 tickets in 24 hours for a potential AFC Championship Game in Atlanta. It didn’t happen, of course, after the Bengals beat the Bills in the divisional round.
But as PFT has reported the NFL envies the atmosphere of major college bowl games as well as the increased revenue stream that would come with having cities bid on the right to host the conference championship games and sponsorship of the games.
The question remains: Even if neutral site championship games means increased revenue for them, will 24 owners ever agree to it?