Robert Kraft hints at big future plans for NFL schedule with Zolak & Bertrand
Kraft revealed that he and other owners expect to make a push for major changes to the NFL schedule.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft joined Zolak & Bertrand from Gillette Stadium during Tuesday's show on 98.5 The Sports Hub. Late in the interview, he dropped a fascinating nugget about the future of the NFL schedule.
If you've been wondering whether the league was eventually going to expand the regular season schedule to 18 games, Kraft has all-but confirmed that at the very least, there will be a push to do so. Kraft revealed that the idea, as he knows it, is to add a regular season game and remove one preseason game, while also guaranteeing at least one international contest per season for all 32 NFL teams. Kraft didn't describe this as a done deal, but one that he and other owners will be pushing for as soon as this year's off-season meetings.
At the same time, Kraft understands that with more games that count, costs are going to go up -- especially for the players, a.k.a. the reason everyone watches the league in the first place. So he is hoping that the additional regular season and international games will facilitate increased payouts for workers across the league.
"I want to tell you guys that we're going to push like the dickens now to make international [games] more important with us," Kraft said. "Every team will go to 18 [regular season games] and two [preseason games] and eliminate one of the preseason games, and every team every year will play one game overseas.
"Part of the reason is so we can continue to grow the cap and keep our labor happy, because we're sort of getting near the top here. You know, with the coverage, 93 of the top 100 programs on television, our NFL games, think about that. It's really amazing. And you look at the size of our crowds versus the other sports. We had that Amazon game on Thursday a couple of weeks ago, 31 million people streamed in. And so as long as we can keep growing revenue, we can keep long-term labor peace."
The Players Association may hear that and say, "We'll believe it when we see it," when it comes to the money. But the important thing for fans to know is that football isn't just here to stay, but that there's going to be even more of it.
The full interview with Robert Kraft will be available on the 98.5 The Sports Hub digital platforms later on Tuesday.
