NFL: Add More Competition, Not Another Game

The 2019 NFL season is over and it’s time to focus on 2020. Each offseason, the league gets together to discuss how to improve on the next season. One of the biggest changes being pitched this offseason is the on-going demand for more games. It seems every year the league is trying to squeeze more and more money out of the growing fan base that surrounds the NFL. However, is adding another game really necessary?

First and foremost, they’d add one week to the schedule. As it stands, right now the NFL doesn’t have a very good product. Sure, there’s a young infusion of talent that’s sparking the excitement around the league. Unfortunately, the play is awful. Right now, the majority of the league sits at a game over .500 or worse. There are not too many winning teams that stand so far out from the pack. Either one more win would make a mediocre team seem competitive, or one more loss would leave fans agonizingly hoping for the season’s end.

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Secondly, if the league really wants to expand the revenue why does adding more games equal better success? If the NFL really wants to add to the league, shouldn’t it add what fans really want, more teams? The league has been sitting at 32 teams, and each year they throw more games in London or Mexico City and each team that plays there loses a home game. Maybe that’s their plan to add one more week so each team can have a travel game and not sacrifice to the fans.

But that’s the problem, by adding more games it doesn’t ultimately change the outcome of that NFL season, but more competition would. Adding more teams would add a bit of random competition and shake up divisions. The league needs a good shakeup in divisions too. While teams like the Bills/Dolphins/Jets might make a run at the division, other than Pats fans does anyone want to see them run away with the division again? The same thing can be said for many of the other divisions around the league. The bottom of those divisions stay in the bottom, the top of the division stays winning. One more game won’t change that outcome. However, adding new teams would. Add some teams, shuffle the divisions, and shake up the competition. While the players have become more dynamic and exciting, the game itself is about as boring as it gets. With the exception of one or two surprise teams each year, the playoffs are the same, the championships are the same, and the competition is getting boring. The NFL needs a good shakeup, and adding one more game won’t be it.