The NFL made the latest round of changes to the Pro Bowl official on Wednesday.
As previously reported, the league’s annual all-star affair will be moving from Honolulu to Orlando as the league takes the game away from Hawaii for the third time since 1979. The change of location will coincide with a move back to having teams representing the AFC and NFC face off rather than the draft format used in the last three years.
In a statement, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league is “excited to re-imagine the Pro Bowl experience for both fans and players and to celebrate the game of football at all levels.” That multi-level celebration includes invitations to youth coaches who coached Pro Bowl players, the presentation of the Don Shula Award to a high school coach and the USA Football national conference among other activities.
It’s hard to imagine that any of the changes are going to make for a better game or generate more buzz than the fantasy-style approach that replaced the conference vs. conference format, although the cyclical chatter about what’s wrong with the Pro Bowl is unlikely to have much impact on the game’s future unless people actually stop watching it.