3 Reasons the NFL should not expand to 18-game schedule

2. Fans and Players

Not every NFL fan gets to see their favorite team play live every year. If you’re not living in your favorite team’s home market and they’re out of the division, you could have to wait years until they come to town. Now imagine that game finally comes around and the star players that you were hoping to see aren’t suiting up due to rest.

This could be a common theme for NFL fans around the country deciding if it’s worth paying their hard-earned money on a ticket with the chance looming that they may not be seeing their favorite players. It’s a tough ask from owners to the fans to be okay with games played where star players aren’t on the field.

NBA and MLB players sit out games for rest, but those schedules are a little more flexible. If LeBron James is coming to town and sits out, you can likely see him later that year or next season at worse.

MLB teams play three-game series, so if a player sits out one game in the series, there are two more games that fans can watch him in. It’s not the same in the NFL unless you live in a division rival’s hometown.

It’s not just about the fans, though. We have to think about the players too. Of course, the contending teams will rest their best players when they are up against the worst teams on the schedule. However, not every team could afford to sit their best players in two of their 18 games.

The NFL has been all about player safety and improving technology to achieve better results in that regard. Adding two games to the schedule, however, could be immediately detrimental to that cause.

Another thing that the longer season would affect is how long players can perform at a high level in the NFL. The 18-game schedule would reduce the player’s careers an average 2.8-3.3 years, which would affect if they are eligible for NFL pensions once they retire.