Comments on: Bill Polian calls 18-game schedule a done deal

By: Chellz

Chellz — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:19:13 +0000

Hey BillJ,
How can playing a full slate of Thursday night games be bad? There should be Thursday games every week. If 18 games equals more thursday games, another great reason to expand to 18.
I wonder if some of you guys even like football. More games on more nights of the week…oh no the horror!

By: balboafan1

balboafan1 — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 12:46:32 +0000

I’m getting so tired of Goodell and what he’s doing to football! “Futbol Americano” on Sunday night football, games in London to expand interest and make more money, 18 games instead of 16 (when clearly it will cause an increase of injuries). Stop f***ing with what we have!!! No American cares about games in other countries! No American wants to see “Futbol Americano” on their tv screens! And nobody wants to see an increase of injuries before playoffs begin!!! Damn it…leave the game alone!!!!!

By: Mike Daly

Mike Daly — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:46:49 +0000

Florio, you can argue until you’re blue in the rface and will never be right. The facts are the 18-game schedule INCREASES the importance of the games in general and late-season games in particular, and there is NO CORRELATION between increases in the schedule and incident of injuries – the injury argument is a crock and shown as such by past increases in the schedule. The idea that the product is no longer special because of 18 games is insane.
BillJ – how did owners over-extend themselves?

By: BillJ

BillJ — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 10:58:23 +0000

This talk of an 18 game schedule really has me bummed as a fan of the NFL (I’d rather them go the other way to a 14 game schedule). There comes a point where you over-saturate the market and your product is no longer special. I believe this push by the owners towards the 18 game schedule is nothing more than a way for owners who have over-extended themselves to receive a cash infusion.
So we’re not only expanding the number of games in the season but we’re also expanding the number of games televised per week. I bet we’ll see an 18 game Thursday slate when all is said and done.

By: -z-

-z- — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 09:45:05 +0000

Meaningless games at the beginning of the season vs. meaningless games at the end of the season.

By: froggy

froggy — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 09:13:37 +0000

Nobody has even discussed how this will affect scheduling. As it stands, six divisional games are a joke. Will you play everyone in your division three times instead of two? That will create some huge inequities and uproar in certain cases, for sure.

By: footballfan

footballfan — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:52:18 +0000

Gee, I wonder how the golden boy feels about this??? You know once he cries to Polian then he will have to change his mind. “Manning told me I was wrong so I didn’t understand what I was voting for…”

By: benjaminbreeg

benjaminbreeg — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:46:53 +0000

There is nothing in an 18 game season for the players, the coaches or the fans. It’s simply a bunch of billionaire owners getting richer and richer.
My guess is that this will backfire on the owners. Lower TV ratings, lower game attendance, less general interest in the game.
Let’s face it, with 16 games, you don’t want to miss a single game. I just don’t think it will be the same with 18. Not to mention, the quality of the play will suffer. Simple as that.

By: thecuz

thecuz — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:39:04 +0000

Florio, you should be loving the 18 game schedule. It will keep you relevant longer.

By: Complete Fan

Complete Fan — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:37:47 +0000

Works for the CFL. It’ll work for the NFL.

By: JetsFan

JetsFan — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:33:24 +0000

>>Every sucker that has to shell out regular season price for preseason tix disagrees with you.
I posed thsi question on the Jets website (I am against teh expansion to 18 games)
100% of seson ticket holders wanted it because they felt like they were being ripped off having to pay for pre-season exhibition games.

By: PFTiswhatitis

PFTiswhatitis — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:20:38 +0000

Its the preseason games that are the problem. Make them half priced and cut two of them and add a reg. season game and its all good. SO maybe Florio has it right at 17. But it amazes me the way they ignore the preseason full-priced ticket game. They dont even allow their own ticket exchange to be used for those games. RIP OFF.

By: Rhode Island Patriots Fan

Rhode Island Patriots Fan — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:17:44 +0000

Setting aside the enhanced risk of injury tied to an 18-game regular season, there are compensation issues as well that loom as potential road blocks. For example, would the NFL agree to giving players enhanced compensation based on the addition of two more “meaningful” (vs. pre-season) games? Basic equity dictates that if the NFL enjoys enhanced revenue, then its players must be allowed to “wet their beak” in that increased—or enhanced— revenue stream.

By: Whodey08

Whodey08 — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:16:35 +0000

I owned season tickets for 24 years.
Did I like paying for 2 preseason games, no not really. Did it stop me from buying season tickets? No.
I like Goddell but this is a plain bad idea.
We all saw how sloppy week 1 was this year.
Just imagine how sloppy the early games will be / a shorter preseason.

By: jackers252

jackers252 — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 07:51:03 +0000

The day of the superstar is over.
Now it’s the day of team depth.
How exciting….

By: TheDPR

TheDPR — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 07:21:51 +0000

I’m with you on this, Florio.
If they feel the need to expand into new foreign markets for $ome rea$on, then the 17 game season is the perfect solution because every team can keep 8 home and 8 away games, plus add a neutral site game to their schedule.
It makes sense.
So the league will not do it.
They are also likely to use this issue as a weapon in the labor dispute.

By: Jack Kennedy

Jack Kennedy — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 06:26:29 +0000

I have an idea. Hold onto yourself because its pretty radical:
Leave things just as they are.
I know….call me crazy.

By: Sooners

Sooners — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 05:10:52 +0000

When the NFL says the fans are in favor of the 18 game schedule, much of the weight in “fans” is the season ticket holders.In the preseason the owners get to charge full price for a diluted product to its season ticket buyers while not paying the players in season salaries; not good for the paying fan. Also the television revenues for two regular season games versus two preseason games is not even closely comparable.
It seems that (surprise!) it is all about money. In the beginning of his tenure I liked what Goodall was doing, but now I think he really has become a divisive force between the players and ownership. A true commissioner would always have the games best interests at stake; instead Goodall is bought and paid by the ownership groups. Why should one single persons opinions and decisions have such weight and influence on such a large corporate entity? The answer is he does not; he colludes and works for the ownerships.

By: Tyler

Tyler — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 03:06:37 +0000

Idiots, Polian doesn’t want the 18-game season. He just states, that more influential people want it.

By: nowathand

nowathand — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 02:48:29 +0000

Look at the NBA Playoffs this year. The Blazers weren’t the same with Brandon Roy recovering from torn meniscus surgery and Greg Oden out. With Coach George Karl gone, the Nuggets looked out of sync. The Celtics were missing Kendrick Perkins from the 5:30 mark of the first quarter of Game 6 of the NBA Finals. It was a pretty big injury, if not series-deciding.
They were still entertaining, but fans of those teams had to be disappointed.
An 18 game season, I think, would really take away some of the specialness of the NFL season. I won’t get tired of football but, even before the NBA became my favorite sport, I really didn’t miss the NFL when it was gone until probably a week after the draft, then the NBA and NHL playoffs really heat up. I also got into arena football this offseason.
Rookies especially are going to have a hard time being conditioned for 18 games and playoffs.

By: buzzbissinger

buzzbissinger — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 02:01:25 +0000

2 more weeks=32 more games
32 more games=32 more possible BLACKOUTS

By: patpatriotagain

patpatriotagain — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 01:41:36 +0000

this would better be described by another FRENCH word “feint” The CBA is all about negotiating what both sides really want and giving up what is less important to you. The NFL is trying to convince the union that 18 games are really important, so that the union gives up something to prevent it, and the nfl will get what it really wants.

By: jc

jc — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 01:36:50 +0000

season needs to be over in january, just like baseball needs to be over in october. the greed is out of control. next we will be paying to watch the games on local television. it is never going to end

By: philly700

philly700 — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 01:36:36 +0000

17 games makes a whole hell of lot more sense then 18.
You say the league is concerned about player safety. Obviously not. Preseason sucks, we all agree on that and maybe the greedy owners should not charge you for preseason and preseason tickets should be chopped in half. The moron, Roger Goodell, fails to realize in this economy they need to cut prices and still grab a hold of future generations. Reducing preseason prices by half would allow almost anyone to get to a game. People that fill stadiums often buy merchandise.
On a side note for all of the people in agreement about the 18 game season realize this, most people say baseball’s season is too damn long. With 2 more games you are talking about a super bowl close to march. Also these clowns are going to push for 16 team playoff system because playoff games are more profitable. 16 teams playoff make the season pointless. Look at basketball and hockey sometimes teams under .500 make the cut. Not to mention all the records/benchmarks become meaningless. IF IT AIN’T BROKE YOU DON’T FIX IT.

By: 1/2MaN1/2aMaZING

1/2MaN1/2aMaZING — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 01:10:06 +0000

this 18 game schedule idea is merely a plot for the rich to get richer, they claim the fans want it but that is an ignorant justification as fans do not want to water down the season into a snooze-fest like the nba, nhl, and mlb. Championships will be won off pure luck by the team who can make it through the season without having half their roster on ir. with all my heart SUCK IT GOODELL

By: costant480

costant480 — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 00:40:17 +0000

More football (to 18 games) does not mean good football for 18 games. This could hurt the quality of the game.

By: XLI

XLI — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 00:31:36 +0000

Polian isn’t voicing his support for it, he simply is stating that the momentum for an 18 game season is making it an inevitable move.
It’s actually one of the few things that would derail a lockout IF in turn the Owners pass most of the additional revenues on to the Players.
Regardless, 4 Preseason games is too many especially at Full Price and the “quality” of Preseason games are a joke. So you either cut 2 Preseasons and add them to the Regular Season … OR … cut 2 Preseasons and expand the Playoffs (which they should NOT do) and take the additional revenues to boost the Player Salary Pool.
The players might not like outside of the additional money, but are Fans somehow against 2 more Regular Season Games?!? I don’t think so. People will tune into Reg Season games regardless, they will NOT for Preseason.

By: FinFan68

FinFan68 — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 00:29:01 +0000

The 16 game schedule as it stands right now is as close to perfect as it can get. the numbers add up right: 2 conferences, 16 teams, 4 divisions, same number of division/conference/non-conference games, every team plays each non conference division every 4 years, etc. Adding two more games dilutes the game, makes the end of the season less meaningful and screws up the fairest schedule possible. To everyone that is saying it is better than paying full price for preseason games: you are fooling yourselves if you think that the tix won’t go up in price…since they are giving you another “meaningful game”. Divide the cost of season tix by 8 instead of 10 and pretend the pre season games are free. It’s all how you look at it, but the full price for exhibition games argument only adds to their ability to “legitimately” raise tix prices.

By: Spiny Norman

Spiny Norman — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 00:24:25 +0000

Who cares about whining season ticket holders? A few thousand idiot spendthrifts are utterly irrelevant compared to an entire nation of football fans.
This is a horrible, stupid, self-defeating idea cooked up at the expense of working people and otherwise unemployable future cripples who sacrifice their bodies to further enrich a bunch of country club drunks that inherited or married enough money to buy sports teams so they can pretend they are involved in some kind of manly activity at last and get a few more people to call them “sir”.
I hope the players form their own league. I really do.

By: Warchief01

Warchief01 — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 00:24:09 +0000

If they can play 16 two more aren’t going to hurt them. They should have stayed at 12. Baseball is what i would love to see cut back. March to May and gone. I hate that sh*t.