The league wants the extra games to be played in global markets.
National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell has been pushing for an expansion of the number of regular season games from 17 to 18 and now one of the league’s more powerful owners, New England’s Robert Kraft, is echoing the commissioner. In reality, Goodell has just been repeating what his owners want. An expanded schedule. “We’re gonna push like the dickens now, to make international more important with us,” Kraft said. “Every team will go to 18 (games) and two (preseason games)and eliminate one of the preseason games. Every team every year will play one game overseas. Part of the reason is so we can continue to grow the (salary) cap and keep our labor happy. Because we’re sort of getting near the top here, you know, with the coverage.”
NFL owners think they can conquer the world. The league will be going back to Brazil and will add Australia to the international rotation in 2026. The league has established a permanent presence in London and has played games in Germany and Spain. Saudi Arabia government officials have expressed an interest in hosting a game. The NFL, two decades ago, was ready to send Kraft’s Patriots to play in China in 2007 but the league and the Chinese government were unable to work out an arrangement that would have allowed the NFL to present a pre-season game in the country. The plan was to play the game exactly one year prior to the opening of the 2008 Beijing Summer Games. The National Football League Players Association has been uninterested in playing an 18th regular season game. But in the NFL’s culture, money talks and if the owners can put together a good enough financial package, the players could be receptive to adding an extra game. The NFL’s universal language is cash.
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Robert Kraft
