The 2018 NFL Pro Bowl is a full football season away. That being said, there is plenty of time for changes to be made to bring relevance back to the game itself.
For the past few years, the Pro Bowl itself has been overshadowed by the week of events surrounding the game. The host city typically has multiple events planned to bring the fans closer to the players. These events are highly entertaining and great for the sport as a whole. It is due-time that the competition on the field is revamped to match the excitement of Pro Bowl week.
Three Ways the NFL Could Fix the Pro Bowl in 2018
The non-competitive atmosphere of the Pro Bowl has been the butt of jokes for years now. Seemingly every year, a big-name player will get hurt playing in the meaningless game. Many fans and experts have called for the elimination of the game altogether.
Much like the NBA and its All-Star game, the Pro Bowl lacks the defensive intensity of a regular game. In both games, the only incentives for the players is a cash bonus. Until this season, the MLB All-Star game had determined the home-field advantage for the World Series. While the NFL can’t follow that exact template with the Super Bowl being played on a neutral field, the league could look to add a further incentive to make the game more exciting and competitive.
One possible incentive for the winning conference would be to have the following year’s Super Bowl hosted in a stadium within the winner’s conference. Bids for a Super Bowl could still be determined years in advance, but two bids could be locked in, one for each conference. Following the result of the Pro Bowl, the winning conference would claim the following year’s Super Bowl stadium bid. Along with this idea, the game should take place after the Super Bowl once again so that the Pro Bowl players on the current Super Bowl roster could have a say in the following year’s game. While not a major advantage, it is something that could up the intensity of the game a bit. It would also add a little more excitement for the fans hoping to host the big game.
Another possible incentive would be to eliminate the cash incentive for the losing side of the NFL Pro Bowl. Money is the ultimate motivator. As of the 2017 Pro Bowl in Orlando, both sides of the competition received cash awards. The winning conference is awarded substantially more money, but the losers take home a solid five-figure pay check also. By making the monetary incentives exclusive to the winning side, the competition would likely go up within the game.
The only downfall to this strategy is that the losing side will have ultimately played for free. In other sports that wouldn’t be as big of a deal, but with how physical football is, that is a lot of risk to take for no pay. Many players do receive cash bonuses on their contracts for being selected to the Pro Bowl. For many, the selection would still mean extra cash no matter the outcome of the game.
The third possible option that seems to be a somewhat popular opinion currently would be to eliminate the game itself. The Pro Bowl selections would still be just as prestigious. The week of festivities would still go on. There would likely still be a ceremony of some sort to acknowledge the outstanding play of the players over the regular season. The only change would be the elimination of a game that is seen as mostly an unnecessary risk.
The game could still be played, just at a different level such as flag football. There would be less contact, less risk for injury, and likely more fun. Seeing the star players’ faces and reactions in competition could be highly entertaining. The NFL hosts some larger-than-life personalities that could mean for a lot of excitement.
Year after year it is becoming more obvious that the NFL must do something to fix the Pro Bowl. Any one of these options could help bring excitement back to the spectacle.
