As the NFL continues to expand its international presence, it soon will run out of teams willing to contribute home games to the cause. The league could soon remove the term “willing” from the equation.
Via Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal, Jets president Neil Glat predicted during a Wednesday evening speaking engagement that the league ultimately may compel all teams to give up one of their eight home games for a neutral-site game to be played on foreign soil.
Currently, the NFL doesn’t force teams to give up home games, requiring a home game to be given to the international effort only in conjunction with a successful Super Bowl bid.
Earlier this year, Art Rooney said the Steelers may be willing to give up a home game in order to play in Mexico. The Steelers were believed to be one of the teams that would never agree to forfeit a home game.
There’s a simpler solution to the problem, even if there would be nothing simple about making it happen. By expanding the regular season by one game to 17, the NFL would have 16 games per year that could be played at neutral sites, with no team losing one of its eight home games.
That would require the agreement of the NFL Players Association, which has shown no inclination to add games.
