The NFL has yet to announce a date for Super Bowl LXII, and according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, there’s a specific reason for that.
By not settling on a date yet, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell are seemingly preparing for the possibility of a switch from a 17-game to an 18-game schedule in 2027. However, Florio now thinks that switch won’t happen in time and the 2028 season seems like a much more likely bet.
“A source with knowledge of the situation tells PFT that it’s highly unlikely the season will expand to 18 games by 2027,” Florio reported. “The current 17-game season with one bye points to February 13, 2028, as the date for Super Bowl LXII to be played in Atlanta. Unless and until the league announces that day as the date for the game, there’s still a chance it will slide deeper into the month to accommodate a longer season.”
That 2028 target date lines up with what Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reported last month about the potential schedule change.
“There is little question that the next collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and its players will include an 18th regular season game,” Jones wrote. “That change is at least two years away — 2028 at the absolute earliest, 2031 at the latest — and it will come with considerable back and forth between the sides.”
Jones also believes adding an extra regular-season game would allow the NFL to add an extra international game — something a league spokesman confirmed last week was a goal — and it would around $1 billion dollars in yearly revenue for the league.
If the schedule does jump to 18 games, the league would cut the preseason from three to two games and add a second bye week. Players have been pushing back on adding the extra game, citing injury risk concerns.
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