It’s a matter of when not if the NFL will expand to 18 regular-season games.
On Tuesday, Patriots owner Robert Kraft addressed the issue during an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub, from Gillette Stadium.
“I want to tell you guys that we’re going to push like the dickens now to make international [games] more important with us,” Kraft told the Zolak & Bertrand show. “Every team will go to 18 [regular-season games] and two [preseason games] and eliminate one of the preseason games, and every team every year will play one game overseas.”
Obviously, that can’t happen unless the NFL Players Association agrees. Even more obviously, the owners will lock out the players in 2031 unless and until they agree to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement premised on 18 games and 16 international contests.
“Part of the reason is so we can continue to grow the cap and keep our labor happy, because we’re sort of getting near the top here,” Kraft said. “You know, with the coverage, 93 of the top 100 programs on television, our NFL games, think about that. It’s really amazing. And you look at the size of our crowds versus the other sports. We had that Amazon [playoff] game . . . a couple of weeks ago, 31 million people streamed in.”
The key to increasing revenue is to increase inventory. Sixteen games became 17. Seventeen will become 18.
Eventually, 18 will become 19. Someday, 19 will become 20.
The logic is simple, even if some would say it’s flawed. The NFL has played 20 total games per team for decades. Prior to 1978, the split was 14 regular-season games and six preseason games. It moved to 16 and four. It’s now 17 and 3.
Under that reasoning, 20 regular-season games and no preseason games is a natural extension of the existing framework.
