While all eyes are on its media rights talks, the NFL is moving toward a schedule shakeup that would push the Super Bowl back a week in 2022.
The NFL is likely to expand its regular season schedule to 17 games per team next season, a move that would push Super Bowl 56 back a week to February 13, according to NBC Sports’ Football Morning in America.
The February 13 date would be the latest yet for the Super Bowl. There had been considerable speculation that this past year’s game would be pushed back due to COVID-19 concerns, but the entire NFL postseason was played as scheduled with no delays.
Per FMIA, the NFL formula for determining the 17th game for each team will be to reprise an AFC-NFC matchup from two years prior, based on the previous year’s standings. For this season, each team would play whichever of the four cross-conference opponents they met in 2019 that finished in the same place in their respective division in 2020. That would result in matchups like Packers-Chiefs and Patriots-Cowboys.
The report also said the NFL is considering two Christmas Day games this year — the league also held Christmas doubleheaders in 2016 and 2017 — and moving one of its six Wild Card games to Monday night.
As for the league’s ongoing media rights negotiations, The Athletic said Monday that its sources back up Sports Business Journal’s Friday report that Disney will eventually end up keeping Monday Night Football rights, but disputed the publication’s “advanced description of the agreement.” [Related: “Reports: Disney and NFL have reached a deal“]
