How Much Is Enough?

More, more, more....

The NFL is always looking for more. More money. It is a business so I guess that it should be expected. The owners greed means that there's never enough. In this case, it's playoff expansion. This might be the last season in which only 12 teams make the playoffs. Starting in 2015, seven teams from each conference might move on to postseason play. This plan could be approved by the owners as soon as next month.

One more team from each conference doesn't seem like much but that's how is starts. In another year, or three, it will probably be up to eight from each conference. 16 playoff teams. Half of the league. Although, we might have 40 teams by then. One of them in London. How much is enough? While it's the owners that will ultimately decide whether the playoffs are to be expanded, this really has Roger Goodell's fingerprints all over it. He's the one that always seems to think that more is best. The owners paid the commissioner over $44 million in 2012 to decide what's best for the league so they seem to like what he's doing. Roger says that the fans want more football. I'm not so sure that they do. The playoffs have been great. Without a doubt, the fans want that to continue. Diluting the playoffs won't make them better. More football doesn't always mean better football. A 14-team playoff format would mean that only one team from each conference would be rewarded with a bye in the first round. That would also mean that there would be six playoff games in that first round. One guess as to the logistics has two playoff games on Saturday, three on Sunday, one on Monday Night. So, the team that won on Monday night would be entering the second round a day short in preparation and recovery. That doesn't sound too fair to me. The more likely scenario would be to put three games on each day of that first playoff weekend. That's a lot of football. I love a lot of football but only if it's great football. I don't think that expanding the playoffs is a guarantee of great football.

The thing that has always bothered me about Roger's ideas is that he always says that the fans want them. He's long had a strong interest in stretching the regular season to 18 games. He says that the fans want this. I know of no fan that wants this. A reduction in the preseason is often a part of Roger's regular season expansion ideas. Now, fans are interested in this. Many fans hate the preseason. They hate preseason games mostly because NFL teams charge regular season prices for them. Teams force season ticket holders to pay full price for these practice games as part of the package. The fans don't necessarily want more regular season games. They want fewer practice games. Or, they want the practice games at a cost that reflects the quality of the game. The fans provide the billions of dollars that drive the NFL. Roger should not assume that the fans want more football. He can assume that the fans want great football. Who wouldn't? I have serious doubts that diluting the playoffs is the best way to continue presenting great football. I don't think that half of the teams in the league should be making the playoffs and that's where it's heading. I'd actually cut back to 10 playoff teams before I'd take a crack at 14.