Would you be OK with a smaller/lighter NFL version of the play in tournament like the NBA has?

[Ned Flanders]

[Royale with Cheese]

On 4/19/2025 at 9:39 PM, Don Otreply said:

IMO, if you don’t win your division, you don’t go to the post season.

 

 

 

it appears not everyone agrees with me, 😁👍

 

I can't agree with that.  You would be okay with a situation like the 2024 Vikings at 14-3 don't make the playoffs?

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

The issue is the 1 game per week type of thing - so adding an extra game tends to give all playoff teams a bye.  Factoring in a 1st round bye, and that team possibly having clinched by week 18, you'd have teams looking at a potential 3-week bye.  

[Don Otreply]

3 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

I can't agree with that.  You would be okay with a situation like the 2024 Vikings at 14-3 don't make the playoffs?

It creates motivation, does it not? 

[BillsShredder83]

On 4/20/2025 at 11:54 AM, Don Otreply said:

Life is inherently unfair 

Fairness or not.  How is the fan experience better if the 10-7 Bucs get a home game as 3 seed..... but a 14-3 team sits at home?

Fan experience should be #1 over everything, and getting away from this principal is exactly why die hard NFL fans are watching less/less interested than they were even 10 years ago

15 hours ago, mjt328 said:

Absolutely not.

 

The more playoff teams a league adds, the less important the regular season becomes.  Less urgency for them to win the normal games.  More chance for bad teams to pull off upsets against superior opponents.  There are multiple teams in the NBA playoffs right now that finished at .500 or lower.  That is pathetic.

 

Once the NFL added a 7th team to their postseason format, they were forced to drop the bye for the #2 seeded team.  Teams with 12-14 wins forced to play against a team with 8-9.  I don't see how this possibly makes the sport better.  

 

Isnt parody supposed to be a perk of the league?  Im sure 49 states aren't sick of KC.... especially on the heels of NEjust ending.  It isnt good for fans to have 2 teams dominate the league for what'll end up being 30years easily

[Big Turk]

On 4/19/2025 at 7:57 PM, thronethinker said:

These are things desperate leagues do. The NFL is not desperate. The NBA is losing fans by droves. 

 

That doesn't seem to be the case...and the season prior to this one was the highest attendance mark of all-time, so if anything it would show they are getting more popular than ever.

 

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/04/15/nba-has-second-highest-season-attendance-mark-ever/

Edited 23 hours ago by Big Turk

[BillsShredder83]

15 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

I agree but it’s wishful thinking. The League WANTS 16 games but the one bye thing has gotta go.

Who do you mean here?

[Royale with Cheese]

10 minutes ago, Don Otreply said:

It creates motivation, does it not? 

 

It creates a scenario where the better teams aren't playing in a tournament to determine the best team.

I believe there is enough motivation to get to the playoffs already.

[Alphadawg7]

There is only 2 ways to fix the gross imbalance the 1 seed has over everyone else - roll back to 6 teams (never gonna happen) or add 1 team and get rid of the bye week for a top seed(s) by either allowing no bye weeks or give all 8 teams a 1 week bye to rest up for the postseason run.  

 

1 team having a bye...playing 1 less game...and also having home field advantage and playing the lowest remaining seed is a MASSIVE lopsided advantage for the one team.  Its the worst playoff imbalance in all of sports.  

 

There is no combo above 6 teams that allows for multiple teams to have a bye week.  

• 7 doesn't work
• 8 doesn't as you would have 5 teams in round 2
  • If you increase bye teams to 3 - you have 5 teams in round 1
  • If you increase bye teams to 4 - you end up with 6 in round 2 and 3 left in round 3
• 9 doesn't work as you either have 7 teams in round 1
  • If you increase bye teams to 3 - you end up with 6 teams in round 2, leading to 3 teams left in round 3
  • If you increase bye teams to 4 - you end up with 5 round 1
• 10 doesn't work as you would end up with 5 teams left in round 3
  • If you increase bye teams to 3 - you end up with 7 round 1
  • If you increase bye teams to 4 - you end up with 7 in round 2

Its not possible to fix this gross imbalance without rolling back to 6 or increasing to 8 and getting rid of the bye week advantage for all teams by having no byes or everyone gets a 1 week bye (which is what they should do).  

 

Postseason is said to be when "The real season begins" - so give everyone a bye and let teams be as fresh/healthy as possible to increase the odds of putting on the best games.  Being a top seed still gets the lowest remaining seed each round and home field, that is a significant advantage still.  

 

Edited 23 hours ago by Alphadawg7

[BillsShredder83]

34 minutes ago, Billl said:

I don't mind the odd number of games if every team has to play one at a neutral site.  Taking away home games and making a team play in another country is BS, though if they're doing it for some but not others. 

Ohhhhhhhhhh i like this a bunch!!  If theyre going to force feed us an extra game, they better at least dress it up a bit

[nedboy7]

54 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

No.

 

The NFL is nothing like the NBA or NHL. As a league, but more so as a sport in general. Far more players, far less games.

 

We need to stop comparing or trying to take ideas from those leagues. Neither are nearly as successful as the NFL either. If anything, they need to be copying from the NFL.

imagine an NBA season with 17 games.  Blood bath!  😝

[Einstein]

32 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

That doesn't seem to be the case...and the season prior to this one was the highest attendance mark of all-time, so if anything it would show they are getting more popular than ever.

 

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/04/15/nba-has-second-highest-season-attendance-mark-ever/

That's just attendance to games. Aka a drop in the revenue bucket.

The real money is in TV. And NBA ratings have been tanking for a while now.

https://sports.yahoo.com/why-nba-ratings-down-big-141500434.html

https://www.si.com/onsi/ball-around/news/nba-ratings-continue-to-drop-former-players-and-fans-give-eye-opening-reasons-why-01jdd7rz8c8q
 

[frostbitmic]

No, don't mess with something that isn't broken.

 

The entire season is a playoff play in.

[Big Turk]

1 hour ago, Einstein said:

That's just attendance to games. Aka a drop in the revenue bucket.

The real money is in TV. And NBA ratings have been tanking for a while now.

https://sports.yahoo.com/why-nba-ratings-down-big-141500434.html

https://www.si.com/onsi/ball-around/news/nba-ratings-continue-to-drop-former-players-and-fans-give-eye-opening-reasons-why-01jdd7rz8c8q
 

 

Ratings rallied to only be down 2% by the end of the season, which is the same as the NFL was down.  Which should not be surprising since ratings are only tracking TV watching whereas cord cutting continues to gain momentum and isn't properly tracked yet. 

 

Salary Cap estimated to be going up 10% next year so clearly the revenue continues to be strong.

 

 

Edited 20 hours ago by Big Turk

[Einstein]

11 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

Ratings rallied to only be down 2% by the end of the season, which is the same as the NFL was down.  Which should not be surprising since ratings are only tracking TV watching whereas cord cutting continues to gain momentum and isn't properly tracked yet. 

If you don't see a troubling trend here, I don't know what to tell ya.



In contract the NFL is the highest it has ever been. The 2% loss was merely just people switching to digital.

[Big Turk]

17 minutes ago, Einstein said:

If you don't see a troubling trend here, I don't know what to tell ya.



In contract the NFL is the highest it has ever been. The 2% loss was merely just people switching to digital.

 

Let's not pretend it's the WNBA all of a sudden that has never turned a profit in any year in it's entire existence.

[papazoid]

no play-in

 

increase playoff teams to 8 per conference. eliminate the bye week for #1 seed

[Chandler#81]

4 hours ago, BillsShredder83 said:

Who do you mean here?

I meant to say ‘the league (NFL) wants 18 games’. Mistyped