An expansion of the NFL regular season from 16 to 18 games is one of the major issues at the center of the ongoing labor dispute between team owners and the players union that still threatens the 2011 season. The owners want more games, which will produce more revenue. Fans are generally supportive of the change because it means more football, as well as a reduction in the number of pre-season games that season ticket holders have to purchase. The players are not so excited about the prospect, and have produced a counter proposal that includes an additional bye week, less off-season practices, and expanded rosters.
I believe that there is a better solution that would mean more money for players and owners, increase excitement for fans, and reduce the fluke element that is so common in the NFL playoffs. We all know the old saying about anybody being able to beat anyone else on any given Sunday, and the playoffs is so exception. The one and done format means that rarely do we actually get the best teams in the Super Bowl, and a simple way to increase that likelihood would be to expand the playoffs into a double elimination format. Double elimination playoffs would bring more revenue to players and owners, increase excitement for fans, and hopefully give us a better post-season product. This format would also help to offset the fact that in recent years the bye week leading up to the divisional playoff round has clearly hurt the top seeds that it was designed to give an advantage to. Every year we see teams that went into the playoffs on long winning streaks come out flat and rusty after a momentum-killing week off.
An 18-game regular season would be a win for fans and owners, however expanding the playoffs seems to be an alternative in which all parties come out as winners.
