Roger Goodell
- There had been talk about NFL commissioner Roger Goodell retiring after the completion of the latest CBA negotiation. Goodell’s contract runs through 2023 and he will be 65 by that point, so the idea was that he would work to groom a successor and transition to something else.
- However, Peter King reports that Goodell hasn’t decided yet if he will leave the league when his current contract expires in three years and there’s a sense from his associates that he could stay beyond that.
- According to King, a clear majority of owners want him to stay beyond 2023 given that they were able to get another CBA deal done and just secured a $113-billion media deal.
- King explains that Goodell doesn’t have anything else he would want to devote his time to and he still loves the challenges of growing the game.
- Beyond that, King points out that there’s no logical successor for Goodell at this time. King mentions that there are three internal candidates to watch including chief media and business officer Brian Rolapp, EVP of Football Operations Troy Vincent and chief strategy officer Chris Halpin.
International Games
Peter King writes in his Football Morning In America column that the NFL appears to have cooled on the idea of placing a team in London or Europe.
This is due to the obvious logistical issues that would come from having a team overseas and possibly creating a competitive disadvantage.
The NFL is, however, looking to gain a foothold in international markets by giving each team the chance to be the “home team” for a foreign market and expanding the schedule overseas by mandating every team play at least one game every eight years outside the United States.
“Maybe four games in London—two from the inventory of games teams voted on this year, maybe two with teams [such as Jacksonville] volunteering for games there. And maybe one in Germany and one in Mexico,” Halpin tells King.
King says that Germany is a fast-riser in international circles and would likely host a game at Allianz Stadium in Munich. Other possibilities include Frankfurt, Berlin and Cologne/Dusseldorf.
18-Game Season
- According to Peter King, most observers believe an 18-game regular season schedule could be on the way at some point in the coming years.
- The NFL just imposed a 17-game schedule for the 2021 season, but King says this could be expanded to 18 games by 2025 or 2026.
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