The NFL Might Eliminate the Pro Bowl Game

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Hey Friends,

The National Football League is discussing ways to improve its annual Pro Bowl, including the elimination of it entirely, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

The exact reason why they would do this hasn’t been made public. But it’s probably not all that difficult for the average fan to decipher the NFL’s thought process here.

The 2021-22 Pro Bowl averaged 6.7 million viewers. That’s 7% more viewers than the 2021-22 NBA All-Star Game (6.28 million) and 482% more viewers than the 2021-22 NHL All-Star Game (1.15 million). But still, it was the lowest viewership for the game in more than 15 years and pales in comparison to the first round of the NFL Draft.

NFL Draft First-Round Viewership

• 2019: 11.0 million

• 2020: 15.3 million

• 2021: 12.5 million

• 2022: 10.0 million

And for additional context, the NFL says that nearly 50 million people watch at least a couple minutes of draft coverage (on any outlet) during the typical three-day weekend.

Remember, the NFL made up 75 out of the 100 most-watched U.S. TV broadcasts in 2021, so while some leagues would kill for nearly 7 million viewers, it’s just not good enough for the NFL.

So if the current Pro Bowl structure isn’t working, what will work?

That’s a loaded question, and if you asked 100 people, I’m sure you would get 100 different answers. But here is my (humble) opinion on what the NFL could do.

I don’t think the current structure works for one simple reason — the NFL is attempting to put on an All-Star game for one of the world’s most violent sports without actually suffering any of the repercussions that come along with that sport.

That’s an impossible task. And it has made the game somewhat unwatchable for the average NFL fan. The players lack enthusiasm, hustle, and passion, and they spend more time attempting to figure out how to avoid contact than they do competing.

So what if you scrapped the game altogether? I’ve seen people suggest a 7v7 flag football format instead. And while I think that’s probably a better idea than the current game—players will go harder and the highlights would be great—I’m not sure that would keep the attention of millions of fans after the initial excitement wears off.

Instead, I think a combination of a few things could be helpful.

First, you need to incentive the players more. I know, I know, I get it. Many of these guys are making millions of dollars annually, and a paycheck from the Pro Bowl doesn’t move the needle all that much. Still, more than 20% of invited players currently opt out of the game (20 out of 88 last year), and making sure the league’s very best players attend is a requirement if you want the event to be must-see television.

Players on the winning team currently make $80,000, and the losing players make $40,000. Should they get $1 million? Probably not. But that brings me to my next point.

The NFL should bring back skills competitions. I’m talking about back in the day when the world’s top quarterbacks attempted to hit moving targets and tried to throw the ball as far as humanely possible. They do something similar now, but no one wants to see Von Miller throw a football. And if you add in other things like the 40-yard dash, bench press competitions, tug-of-war, and more, things could get interesting.

Because my guess is that if you are able to put some of the world’s best athletes in direct competition with each other, and incentive them to truly compete to the best of their ability with large cash prizes, a large percentage of NFL fans would be interested.

For example, why can’t the NFL create a $10 million-plus fund that pays out cash prizes to players that win each competition? They bring in more than $15 billion in revenue annually. They currently pay out nearly $5 million to players through the current Pro Bowl structure. They could easily monetize sponsorship inventory for the event to pay the additional cost, and with host cities seeing $50 million-plus in economic impact from the event, they could even make them contribute to the fund.

Now, I don’t know for sure that this would work. But it’s evident that the current format is not delivering the results that the world’s most profitable sports league is accustomed to, so why not shake things up and try something different.

Then again, I’m probably overthinking it — you could just have the league’s two worst teams play each other for the first overall draft pick and get 15 million-plus viewers lol.

I hope everyone has a great day. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

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