A report earlier Monday indicated NFL owners want to expand its regular season to 18 games within the next “2-3 years.” With its Super Bowl schedule set through the 2026 season, 2027 would be the earliest the NFL could seek to add another regular-season game.
Commissioner Roger Goodell, though, said the NFL does not have a timetable for when that might happen.
The NFL and the Players Association have not had formal negotiations about an expanded regular season, and the move would have to be collectively bargained.
“It is something that [NFLPA executive director] Lloyd [Howell] and I have had informal conversations about, but there’s a lot of work to be done,” Goodell said. “We committed in 2011 when we signed a Collective Bargaining Agreement that players would not only have a say in that, but they would actually be able to prevent it from happening or support it happening. We were able to do that when we moved to 17 games.”
Since 2021, the NFL has played a 17-game regular season following a three-game preseason.
“If we do [expand], 18 [regular-season games] and two [preseason games] might be a possibility,” Goodell said, “because we know fans love football. They want more football. But we have to be incredibly sensitive and smart about the balance and how we deal with that.”
Goodell noted that 2024 was “extraordinary on player safety and injuries,” with concussions at a historically low level. Altered offseason training methods and schedules, advances in equipment and rules changes have helped make 18 games a greater possibility.
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