NFL commissioner Roger Goodell floats the possibility of an 18 game regular season schedule. Plus: The Seattle Kraken end relationship with ROOT Sports, shift to over-the-air; legendary NHL announcer Bob Cole dies at 90.
Roger Goodell mulls possibility of 18 game schedule
Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show Friday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell stated his support for a shift to an 18 game regular season in the future. The modified schedule would cut the preseason from three games down to two, and likely add a second bye week for each team. If this turns out to be the case, the Super Bowl would then be played on President’s Day weekend. Goodell made sure to stress a move to 18 games is not imminent. “I think we’re good at 17 now,” the commissioner said. Any expansion to an 18 game regular season would have to be collectively bargained with the NFL Players Association.
Along with adding an extra regular season game, Goodell floated the possibility of an international schedule that reaches 16 games per season in the next 10 years. The NFL has placed an emphasis on growing football internationally of late. The league will kickoff its first game on South American soil this upcoming season, a matchup between the Eagles and Packers on opening weekend. (ESPN, 4.26)
Kraken move off cable and onto broadcast
The NHL’s Seattle Kraken will leave the Mariners-owned regional sports network ROOT Sports after announcing a multi-year agreement with TEGNA-owned NBC affiliate KING on Thursday. Additionally, the club announced deals with TEGNA-owned stations in Portland and Spokane, with plans to ink deals with other broadcast companies throughout its regional footprint in the coming weeks. For cord cutters, Amazon Prime Video will stream non-nationally televised games for subscribers in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. The Kraken are the latest NHL team to ditch its RSN in favor of over-the-air broadcast, joining the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Utah NHL franchise formerly the Arizona Coyotes. John Forslund, JT Brown, Eddie Olczyk, Alison Lukan, and Nick Olczyk will remain as the Kraken’s primary broadcast team for next season. (Kraken, 4.25)
NHL broadcaster Bob Cole passes away
Longtime Canadian NHL broadcaster Bob Cole passed away at age 90 on Wednesday, the CBC reported Thursday. Cole was a staple of the CBC’s hockey coverage for decades and called dozens of Stanley Cup Finals for the network. Cole also called Olympic hockey for the CBC. After joining CBC Radio in 1969, Cole moved to television in 1973, and became the lead play-by-play announcer for Hockey Night in Canada by 1980, a post he held until 2008. His voice was also heard on American television throughout the years via simulcasts on NBCSN and USA. The legendary broadcaster called his final game for Hockey Night in Canada in 2019 at age 85, an Original Six matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens. (CBC, 4.25)
