Some in the league office would like to pivot from home-field conference championships to neutral-site contests. To date, no owners have gone on the record to support the potential shift in the approach to the NFL’s final four.
On Wednesday, the owner who would have hosted a Bills-Chiefs neutral-site game last month spoke out against changing where those contests are played.
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo interviewed Falcons owner Arthur Blank on SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio. Russo said this: “I do not want neutral site AFC and NFL championship games. Arthur, make a call, will you? I can’t have that. You play all year for the home field!”
“You do,” Blank said, “and I actually agree with you on that point, Chris. Even though we were selected, I mean, it was a credit to our organization, we were selected out of any number of teams, to use our stadium. But, having said that, I think your point is accurate. The whole year you fight, you do what you can to win games, et cetera, et cetera, and you want to reward your fans by hosting that championship game in your facility.
“It was interesting because Clark Hunt, Lamar’s son, who is the operating owner for the Kansas City Chiefs, he just came out just yesterday, I think, and said he definitely doesn’t think those games should be played on a neutral site. But his father, Lamar, was a strong proponent of it. And I know Clark well, obviously I serve on committees with him and he’s a great owner, a great leader in the league, I would agree with him. I’m sure his dad, if he was with us, he would have some other viewpoints on why it was a good idea but I’m happy with the existing [approach].”
Given that 24 owners will need to support a change in order to make it happen, it’s looking for now like a long shot. And it will stay that way -- at least until the NFL persuades the owners of all the extra cash they can make by making the change.
And they definitely can. Which is why some in the league office would like to do it.
