The NFL is hoping to make some changes.
While the NFL remains king among the four major professional sports leagues in the United States, it still has its issues, some of which commissioner Roger Goodell addressed in a letter to fans Wednesday.
Goodell’s letter centered around multiple ways the league can improve its pace of play from football-related changes to tweaks for broadcast partners.
On the TV side, Goodell wrote that the league and its broadcast partners are “working to meaningfully reduce down time and the frequency of commercial breaks,” while the NFL also will give those partners “increased flexibility to avoid untimely breaks in the action.” Goodell gave the example of everyone’s favorite (not) kickoff sandwiched between two commercials, which he said he hates and hopes to eliminate.
Goodell also wrote that the NFL is looking to make changes on the football side, and he mentioned a centralized system for replays and multiple ways to tweak the timing of the game.
“Regarding game timing, we’re going to institute a play clock following the extra point when television does not take a break, and we’re considering instituting a play clock after a touchdown,” Goodell wrote. “We’re also going to standardize the starting of the clock after a runner goes out-of-bounds, and standardize halftime lengths in all games, so we return to the action as quickly as possible. Those are just a few of the elements we are working on to improve the pace of our game.”
All these potential changes are on the docket for the league’s annual meeting, which also will be closely monitored for news about the Raiders’ potential move to Oakland.
Thumbnail photo via Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports Images
