New York Giants Don't Want Longer NFL Regular Season
On Wednesday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell expressed his desire to increase the 16 game NFL regular season to either 17 or 18 games. These extra regular season games would most likely replace a few meaningless preseason games that nobody
really cares about, anyway. Most NFL fans I've spoken to are in favor of a longer regular season (including me). Due to the fact that the teams and the league would make more money, most NFL owners are also in favor of extending the regular season.
John Mara, co-owner of the New York Giants, is apparently not one of those owners.
According to a report posted on the official website of the New York Daily News, Mara is quoted as saying that the Giants are the "only"
NFL team that is opposed to a longer regular season. The same story quotes Mara as saying "I just think it's tough on the players' health that late in the season. We have a tough enough time getting through practice and getting through the game with your roster intact. Now we are going to be adding more games. So, we have to do something with the roster size. It's coming at some point."
You have to believe that Mara is going to end up unhappy on this one. A longer NFL regular season is a win for the NFL, teams, fans and the TV networks. Replacing two preseason games with two regular season games means that fans will be more likely to stay for the entire game, which of course will mean more concessions sold at the games. CBS and FOX will be able to show three more regular season games each during those two weeks and ESPN and NBC will both get at least two more games (as will the NFL Network if the league decides to add two more Thursday/Saturday games to the schedule). The ad revenue alone makes a longer NFL season desirable for all parties.
t's rather ironic that Mara brings up the health of players at the end of a longer NFL regular season. It was during a meaningless, worthless preseason game against the Jets that defensive end Osi Umenyiora was injured
and lost for the entire 2008 regular season. The fact of the matter is that injuries such as the one suffered by Umenyiora are flukes and, well, they just happen.
With that said, if these injuries are going to happen, I'd much rather see them occur during a game that actually has an impact on the standings. I've been one of the many fans clamoring for a shorter preseason for a few years. If that leads to there being two more regular season games, then so be it.
