NFL owners approved the expansion of the regular season to 17 games Tuesday, a long-expected decision that will generate additional revenue for the country’s richest sports league.
Players agreed to the additional game as part of their 2020 collective bargaining agreement, which gave the league an option to expand as soon as the 2021 season. The preseason will be reduced from four games to three to maintain compliance with the collective bargaining agreement, which limits the total number of preseason and regular-season games played to 20.
There will remain one bye week per team. The season will begin on Thursday night, Sept. 9 and will end on Jan. 9, 2022. The Pro Bowl will be played on Feb. 6, 2022 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and the Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles has been pushed back one week, from Feb. 6 to Feb. 13, 2022.
The full 2021 schedule will be released later this spring, however the league did release the Week 17 schedule and it features the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Green Bay Packers.
Although the NFL Players Association agreed to the change last year, some players have spoken out on social media in recent weeks to express their displeasure with their additional game. On Sunday, New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara tweeted it was “dumb … as hell” and Green Bay Packers safety Adrian Amos tweeted: “We really let this happen.”
Player salaries won’t change, but they will be paid over 18 weeks rather than 17. Some player benefits will be altered, however.