At last check, NFL owners were pushing for a two-game preseason. The NFLPA countered with zero. Now, the league is willing to meet the union in the middle, with just one preseason game, as Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.
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Under the league’s plan, that game would be held on August 27, which usually marks the third preseason game out of a four-game slate. Meanwhile, players have asked for the preseason to be wiped out entirely, to give them a full 21 days of strength and conditioning work before the start of the regular season. This could be a workable compromise, though the NFLPA has argued that the preseason is not at all necessary. In their minds, exhibition games only serve to add unnecessary exposure, putting athletes in jeopardy and adding another hurdle before Week 1.
Most players aren’t fans of the preseason in general, but it’s a critical period for players who are on the fringe of the 53-man roster. Undrafted free agents and other players looking to solidify spots would be shortchanged by the union’s proposal. Of course, that’s secondary to the general health and wellbeing of the league’s employees, so the NFLPA’s objection is understandable.
Over the weekend, Saints quarterback Drew Brees, 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman, and other NFL players launched a social media campaign with the hashtag #WeWantToPlay. The message: The NFL needs to provide a safe work environment so that the season can go on as scheduled. If the league cannot take steps towards ensuring safety, it’s possible that a large-scale grievance could be filed.
No preseason games is only going to hurt the following; teams with new coaches, coordinators, and QB’s, and as the article stated, players who are on the fringe to make the club. Without the preseason to showcase themselves an Undrafted player might not shine enough in practice or be cut because a player competing with them who was a 6h or 7th round draft pick and because the team has time and money invested in these players they will probably make the team over an Undrafted player.
Remember that almost half of the league is made up of Undrafted players.
To me, 2 preseason games are ok, that way each team can get one home game and one away game, then make it so that players are only allowed to play in one of the two games.
Just an idea.
Great points. I believe the NFL PA is being dictated by veterans who already have job security. Newcomers need a chance to get acclimated and those on the roster bubble deserve a chance to prove themselves in game action.
Besides, the preseason allows players to shake off some rust. Training camp helps with conditioning, but a preseason game will expose players to an authentic football atmosphere and prepare them for the regular season.
Generally, I’m pro-player, but I’m starting to get a bit frustrated with the union. They seem inflexible with certain criteria, and I believe this to be a reasonable compromise
My coached had always told me ” if you can’t practice, you can’t play on game day”.
I see this as blatant attempt on the part of the players – probably dictated by the veterans as you stated – to use the pandemic health and safety to avoid preseason practices and preseason games. It’s disgusting in my opinion!!
If I was the owners, I’d tell them that if it’s unsafe to practice or play pre season games, then it’s unsafe to play the regular season. Let the players risk losing there pay checks for the season and see if they change there tune!
This is good news. Once the teams and league know preseason is meaningless (they already know, but can sell tickets), they’ll make changes in removing them from future seasons. No way do they go from 1 game this year, back to 4 next season.
honestly i feel this is just an excuse by the players to get rid of the preseason. in reality, does one extra game where the contact will be lessened have a likely affect on cases when you have 16 other regular season games to play?
“That guy over there is a really lousy shot! He fired at me 16 times and missed! I’m going to have him shoot at me one more time – what are the chances I get hurt?”
There may or may not be much more chance to get sick in 17 games than 16, but consider the consequences, the “what to gain vs. what to lose” as illustrated in the (admittedly exaggerated for debate’s sake) example above.
I think the first part of DarkSide’s post was the portion he was really trying to emphasize. I do not believe that he was dismissing the virus’ contagious nature.
yep. not saying there is no concern at all, just saying that if you are perfectly fine with 16 games, bristling at 17 (especially when most guys may not even play and none for very long) seems like an unreasonable reaction.
So are the players willing to give up money because when they sign a contract the expectation is a 16 game season and 4 preseason games?
I’d venture to say they won’t be willing to do that.
My coaches had always told me ” if you can’t practice, you can’t play on game day”.
I see this as blatant attempt on the part of the players – probably dictated by the veterans as you stated – to use the pandemic health and safety issue to avoid preseason practices and preseason games. It’s disgusting in my opinion!!
If I was the owners, I’d tell them that if it’s unsafe to practice or play preseason games, then it’s unsafe to play the regular season. Let the players risk losing there pay checks for the season and see if they change there tune!
We got your reply the first time. Oh and btw it’s “their”*
Most players sound like they are either scared and don’t want to play, or want the NFL to cancel the season (with pay) and target 2021. Problem is, 2021 isn’t a sure bet either. If having COVID19 shutting down states/cities is a “new normal” these guys are gonna have to play or the sport dies.
i tell you, if this issue isnt resolved by Spetember of 2021, we’ll have bigger things to he worried about then sports.
It makes perfect sense that the veterans do not want preseason games. It’s the preseason where rookies and UDFA’s shine and ultimately take roster spots away from aging (and highly paid) veterans. I’m guessing that the owners and coaches will dig their heels in here and really push for that 2 game preseason schedule.
Also, keep in mind that the preseason games are huge money makers for the owners. They charge regular season ticket prices for preseason games and if you are a season ticket holder, you are required to buy preseason tickets as part of your package.
If fans are not allowed in this season then this is a moot point for 2020, but owners really want that 18 game revenue stream when fans are allowed back in. The only way they decide to move to 2 preseason games going forward is if the 17 game regular season schedule in permanent.
I’ve never been a season’s ticket holder, so this is an honest question… Are ticket prices for pre-season games the same as for regular season tickets? How about if you don’t have ST and want to buy a ticket walk-up?
Thanks!
Well, preseason tickets are cheaper as is, and you certainly can buy tickets as long as they’re not sold out. The Packers of course have different circumstances than most teams, and I’d be curious in hearing the practicalities of attempting an at-the-door purchase there.
As far as season tickets go, you pay the same price for everything, which includes preseason games. Normally, that’d be two of them. So even if they’re technically cheaper on an individual basis, they all end up costing the same when split up if you divide by ten (eight home regular games, plus two preseason). I’m not a season ticket holder, though, and perhaps some teams do that part differently, but I don’t know if any teams split their charges for the preseason from the season total.
I am a season ticket holder who lives 120 miles from my teams venue. I have to pay full price for preseason games & generally sell the tix for 20% of the price I paid for the ticket; ex., 2 $120 tickets go for $50, so l lose $90 x2 =$180 for both preseason games. They can go away forever.
Let me correct my math. $120 x 2 = $240, sold for $50 total = $190 loss x 2 preseason games = $380 total loss.
Thanks for the info. The clubs use the price of the regular season to leverage up the cost of the preseason tickets by lumping them all together and making the fan pay for everything at once, right? The real curiousity for me is how much the teams actually value the preseason versus the regular season in house.
For example, do they value it at, say, 20% less per game? If so, how much more money do they think they make by charging for the regular season and preseason together, instead of, say, charging a separate and cheaper deal for the two preseason games? They don’t have any trouble selling tickets though, I suppose, since it seems like drastically lower demand should result in lower prices. Like, if they separated the preseason from the regular season and charged separately for them, with preseason being significantly cheaper per game, they’d sell more because the end cost for either package would be lower for the consumer. I’m sure that they’ve looked at this and decided not to do it, but I’m still curious as to how the actual teams value preseason games versus regular season games in terms of actual numbers.