Hard Knocks is here to stay, and your favorite team might be featured in the near future.
After struggling to find a willing participant in the show this offseason, the NFL is now taking matters into its own hands to ensure that issue doesn’t arise again. The league passed a resolution at the fall owners meetings on Tuesday, giving the league the right to “compel” a team to be featured on the show if there are no volunteers, according to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The NFL signed a contract extension with HBO to continue the popular 24/7 training camp experience over the next few seasons. The league is apparently interested in using the show to help grow some smaller market franchises, which the new addendum could help generate.
The only exemptions to the new mandate are for teams with a new head coach, teams that have made the playoffs for two consecutive years or teams that had been featured on the show in the past 10 years. That means there should be lots of new faces and franchises on the show in the near future.
The Cincinnati Bengals (2009, 2013), Miami Dolphins (2012), New York Jets (2010), Dallas Cowboys (2008) and Kansas City Chiefs (2007) have all appeared on the show in the past. There was no season of Hard Knocks in 2011 due to the NFL lockout.
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