NFL, union officials meet to discuss longer regular season

[Dpantherman]

NEW YORK (AP) -- NFL and union officials discussed adding two games to the regular season when they met Wednesday for their first negotiating session since February.

Teams would still play a total of 20 exhibition plus regular-season games under the proposal. The league would go from four in the preseason and 16 in the regular season to two and 18.

"This is an idea that is really gaining momentum, particularly with the owners," Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy said on a conference call.

The current collective bargaining agreement expires in March, which could lead to a work stoppage during the 2011 season.

In quotes released by the NFL Players Association, Tom Brady and Ray Lewis expressed concern about the damage two extra regular-season games could do to players' bodies.

"I've taken part in several postseason runs where we have played 20 games," said Brady, the New England Patriots quarterback. "The long-term impact this game has on our bodies is well-documented. Look no further than the players that came before we did. Each player today has to play three years in order to earn five years of post-career health care."

Murphy said he frequently hears Packers fans complain about the quality of exhibition games, as starters now play sparingly in the preseason. With offseason training, he said, players come into camp in good shape and no longer need four games to prepare.

"Part of it is really providing more value to our fans," Murphy said. "The quality of our preseason has really deteriorated over time."

Murphy suggested that more regular-season games would mean more revenue -- which means more money distributed to players. The earliest season with an expanded schedule would be 2012.

"I know our fans may not like preseason games and I don't like all of them," said Lewis, the Baltimore Ravens linebacker, "but swapping two preseason games for two end-of-season games -- when players already play hurt -- comes at a huge cost for the player and the team."

Murphy said the league would look into how players train during the offseason and season to try to reduce injuries. The size of the active roster and practice squads could also be increased; that would have to be agreed to in bargaining.

The NFL could expand to 22 games -- four exhibition, 18 regular season -- under the current CBA, subject to financial negotiation with players, but Murphy said the league would not make a change without an agreement from the union.

He floated the possibility of creating a developmental league to make up for the experience lost by younger players with the reduction in preseason games.

"If you look across most professional sports, we're the only league without some type of minor league or developmental system to develop players," Murphy said.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/nfl/06/16/season.ap/index.html#ixzz0r4FogucK

[SorthNarolina]

Adding playoff games kind of popped into my head but the playoff system is pretty good and I wouldn't want to eff it up.

I like the idea of a Minor league since NFL Europe has been dead for so long.

These billionaires who keep pushing for another NFL caliber league could help out with that. Attendance and revenue probably wouldn't be that different.

[Baschski]

I definitely wouldn't mind more NFL to watch, but I think they would almost certainly have to increase roster size (maybe seven more spots) to deal with the wear and tear of a longer season.

[Seamonk]

I wonder how they'd do the scheduling, as of now it's H/A per team in Division, 2H/2A against NFCdivision, 2H/2A against AFC division, 1 H NFC opponent that placed the same as us in another division, 1 A NFC opponent that placed the same as us in another division.

Would that mean more cross conference games?

[Ricky Spanish]

i don't like the idear. someone is going to die. i do like the idea of a minor league football though.

[PantherBob]

Just goes to show you how greedy the NFL and all 32 owners are. Instead of dropping the price of preseason tickets where we only get to see part of the product they would rather over work the players and make them play more games.

[panthers55]

I like making games more meaningful. We have to pay for the games already so we ought to get our money's worth instead of a water downed product. I agree with expanding rosters to include 4 or 5 more players who if they were rookies would be pretty cheap to keep.

As for the injury issue it should be pretty easy to see how much of an impact that has by looking at the playoff teams for the past 10 years and how many more guys were injured in weeks 18 and 19. They could even give teams a longer break between the regular season and the playoffs to get guys healthy and start training camp 2 weeks earlier.

The players will have to eventually agree with this as one means to raise more revenue otherwise they are looking at a 20% cut right now. This is one way they could make up some of the difference.

[Lumps]

hell f**king no.

More value? Adding games does not give the fans or especially the game anymore value in any area whatsoever, the only value it brings goes in the pockets of the owners. Add two more games to suck up the fan's money while winning teams sit their starters? Already happens now...

Minor league is an interesting idea but isn't college basically that?

[Dpantherman]

i understand the arguments against. but im pretty sure the same things were said every other time they expanded...

[KillerKat]

want more games then add more players

[Argus Plexus]

Start Training Camp two weeks earlier, Keep four Preseason Games but start them two weeks earlier, Expand Regular season by two more games, Give two weeks between final regular season game and beginning of playoffs for resting and recuperating players, possibly expand NFL by two more teams, possibly expand playoffs, expand roster by seven spots and add another spot or two to the practice squad.

Love the idea of a minor league.

Sounds like fun.