It’s that time of year again. Last night officially marked the beginning of the NFL season for me. I know the starters only played for 2 or 3 sets but it certainly hit the spot. However, last night proved more than just the start to another grueling NFL campaign; it just reminded me of why I am a monstrous proponent of the NFL’s campaign to expand the regular season by two games. The NFL has had the four preseason game schedule only for a blip of its overall existence but as a “paying” customer it isn’t hard to see why the NFL wants to extend the season into the month of August. The question is whether despite my personal feelings it will be better or worse for the NFL as a whole?

While fans would love to think that schedule expansion is truly about them it remains important to keep the wool off their eyes. Sure your favorite team potentially gets one more important home game out of the affair but that game will in effect come at a high cost. Over the course of its recent history the NFL has done nothing to demonstrate a willingness to simply engulf change for free. If you look at expansion a little deeper some of the additional costs have already floated to the surface. The Players Union will immediately return fire with the need for expanded rosters, better player insurance, and greater overall compensation. An increase in these basic costs alone will quickly and not so quietly be passed onto the consumer and they aren’t costs that big wig corporations and their hefty box seats are going to feel the brunt of. Instead, the dad who wants to take his three kids the game will suffer or even better yet the blue collar worker who already has to invest his whole paycheck to buy nose bleed seats will no longer be able to attend games. The list will go on and on. In the end the actual economic costs of attending events and/or watching them on television will become adequately more consuming and expensive, thus making the games loss some of their current luster.

While the expenses go up there are definite benefits to expansion as well. For years I have been an adamant proponent of increasing health benefits for former players. If the Players Union plays their cards right expansion could provide the best chance to get a deal worked out. Instead, of constantly worrying about direct player compensation first the Union could help all player evenly across the board by protecting their medical needs further down the line. The current NFL system provides insurance benefits for players ranging as far out into retirement as 5 years. Ironically enough, most health issues, particularly those associated with head injury; don’t show up within that realm. That means players are left to suffer extreme costs associated with injury caused by playing. Sure for a player like Peyton Manning this might not be a huge deal because the money he makes certainly allows him to purchase an extensive medical coverage plan well into his retirement. However, an offensive lineman who merely makes the league minimum might not be able to pay for extended coverage deep into his retirement due to the high risk nature of his profession. Here is where a deal would help. The Union should secure a deal that extends medical benefits in return for the two additional games. If they make this a top priority then something can finally be done to help prevent so many sad cases of brain trauma victims losing their coverage simply because they chose to play football. In this regard not only will the NFL help appeal more to their fans by giving them more of the product they so desperately want but the league would be taking on a more progressive atmosphere which could help pave the way for safer negotiations later on as matters become relatively more sticky.

In the end, I can see why schedule expansion can be bad but I see the potential as outweighing things substantially. I am not sure about you but I am willing to embrace some additional cost to get a slightly longer, yet still not overwhelming, schedule expansion in place. That being said, ultimately two more regular season games is definitely for the better.

Thanks for reading.