The NFL's regular season will be expanded to 17 games beginning in 2021. Commissioner Roger Goodell revealed Tuesday, in a long-awaited move, that the league will add an extra game to each team's schedule in 2021, making all 32 clubs play 17 games from then on. The additional game will be played on a Sunday night during late November or early December.
Goodell said the decision was made after discussions with many members of the football community, including players, coaches, and owners. "We believe this is the right time for us to expand our season," he said at his annual state of the league address in New York. "After much discussion with our owners and management teams, we feel adding one more game will provide our fans with even more exciting football."
The new schedule will be released later this year. Currently, each team plays 16 games across two seasons. In 2021, all but three teams will have played every week during the season. In 2022, all but four teams will have played every week during the season. At some point during those two seasons, all 32 teams will have played every week during the season.
The announcement came less than a month after the conclusion of the 2018 season, which was the first without a full slate of games since 1947. That lack of action prompted several prominent figures within the industry to call for an expansion of the NFL calendar.
The NFL officially increased the regular-season schedule to 17 games on Tuesday, the first time the calendar has been altered since 1978, when the league increased from 14 to 16 games. "This is a watershed moment in NFL history," said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a statement. "Players are no longer physically beaten down by the game, and we're seeing more and more physicality come out in the arena of football."
The new schedule will go into effect for the 2013 season. It was approved by the NFL's executive committee and its owners during their annual meeting in Atlanta.
The 17-game schedule will be played over approximately 2 1/2 months, with each team playing six home games and five away games. The additional game will be played either at 4:30 p.m. or 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoons, depending on where the playoff spots are clinched.
Teams will only play one game per week except for weeks 15 and 16, when they will have two consecutive days off. During weeks 15 and 16, teams will still travel to all other cities but will not leave town on Saturday or Monday nights.
There will be three weekly sets of games with four games scheduled each week. On any given week, any combination of open dates may occur; there will never be more than two weekends with no games scheduled.
Beginning with the 2021 season, the NFL will increase its regular season to 17 games per club. Each team's preseason schedule will now include three games. According to the new improved schedule, each of the 32 clubs will play at least one international game every eight years. The only exceptions are Arizona and San Francisco who will not play each other during that period.
The league announced the change on Thursday. It is set to take effect for the 2021 season. Here is how the schedule will look beginning that year:
Week 1 (Sunday, Sept. 10): Miami Dolphins vs. New York Jets
Week 2 (Sunday, Sept. 17): Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Atlanta Falcons
Week 3 (Sunday, Sept. 24): Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers
Week 4 (Sunday, Oct. 1): Oakland Raiders @ Denver Broncos
Week 5 (Sunday, Oct. 8): Philadelphia Eagles @ New England Patriots
Week 6 (Sunday, Oct. 15): Washington Redskins @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 7 (Sunday, Oct. 22): Jacksonville Jaguars @ Indianapolis Colts
Week 8 (Sunday, Oct. 29): Los Angeles Chargers @ Seattle Seahawks
NFL owners were allowed the potential to expand to 17 games as part of last year's collective bargaining deal with players. They accepted the 17-game schedule, which will begin in 2021, at the virtual owners' meetings on Tuesday. The current 16-game schedule will remain in place for the 2019 season.
The league currently has 16 teams due to the Indianapolis Colts not being approved by the other owners due to concerns over head coach Frank Reich's health. If the Colts do join the league, they would be the first team admitted to the playoffs as a wild card entry.
The Texans were expected to be one of two teams to receive an expansion draft pick, but that pick was traded away prior to the start of the season. It is possible that another team could receive an expansion draft pick if there are no other trades before July 15, 2019.
In 2017, the NFL went for two seasons without a single undefeated team. Will this continue? Only time will tell.
According to Peter King and Mike Florio, the NFL is likely to increase the regular season to 18 games in the future years. According to NBC Sports' Peter King in his newest Football Morning in America column, "most observers believe 18 games are on the way." Florio also contributed to this story.
Currently, the NFL season consists of 16 games, with one additional game being played each year to determine the champion. The 17th game is traditionally scheduled for December 31st, but it can be moved to another day if necessary. The NFL began its season in a week-to-week basis in 1947 when the league allowed each team to play only seven games. The following year, they added an eighth game to complete the schedule. In 1950, the number of games was expanded to nine per team, and since then, they have never looked back.
The NFL has been criticized for the length of its season that many people claim is too long. Some scientists have also come forward and said that the NFL season is not healthy for players because it uses up so much energy. There were even calls from some members of Congress to shorten the season back in 2011. However, nothing has happened since then and the season continues to count down week by week.
When the NFL started expanding in 2007, many people wondered whether or not it would eventually go back to 16 games.
The National Football League's 102nd season is slated to begin in 2021. (NFL). The league increased the regular season schedule from 16 to 17 games. The additional game will be played between Christmas and New Year's Day, making the season longer than ever before. The only other change to the schedule is that there will be no more Thursday night games.
In 2020, all 32 teams will play 13 regular-season games instead of the previously announced 12. The decision was made in response to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic affecting the industry. The NFL has not announced any changes to its schedule for 2021.
The NFL season currently lasts approximately four months. In 2011, the season lasted from early September until December 21st with a doubleheader on Monday Night Football on October 24th/25th. In 2012, the season started on September 5th and ended on January 10th with a playoff rematch of the previous year's Super Bowl between the New York Giants and New England Patriots. In 2013, the season started on September 6th and ended on January 19th when the playoffs began. In 2014, the season started on September 7th and ended on January 26th when the playoffs started. In 2015, the season started on September 8th and ended on January 01st 2016 when the playoffs started.
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