Roger Goodell, Jerry Jones reveal 18th game NFL talks

The NFL’s Annual League Meeting is underway in Palm Beach, Florida this week with a number of big issues on the agenda. The 2024 season was a big one for the league, with a record Super Bowl TV audience and a historic Christmas Day double-header on Netflix.

There are a series of potential rule changes under consideration at this year’s meeting, including the legality of the now-infamous ‘Tush Push’, but the topic of an 18-game season has also made headlines. For years many owners have longed for a one-game extension, with the huge commercial boost that it could provide. The NFL Players Association is believed to be unconvinced but Cowboys owners Jerry Jones revealed that he’s strongly in favour.

“Certainly it’s in the future,” Jones told reporters on Tuesday. “I know the potential. But there are several things that I can see in the future that are potential. I also know that … things can take time.”

Jones added that he was encouraged by the league’s potential for further commercial rights growth, saying: “I’m more optimistic about how it grows here than I was when I first came into the NFL in 1989, and any period in between. I see a lot of positive growth."

The Dallas owner has been one of the more vocal proponents of an 18th game but he’s far from the only supporter. Even NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has given tentative support in the past and admitted on Tuesday that talks are ongoing.

“We continue to analyze and discuss this,” Goodell said of the 18-game regular season proposal. “We are thinking about a lot of things in the context of our season structure.”

Conversations around scheduling will also feature talks on the Christmas Day games for 2025, with a third fixture expected to be added. In 2024 Netflix had the broadcast rights for both games but Christmas 2025 falls on a Thursday, with Amazon holding existing broadcast rights for the Thursday Night Football.

As such, a third game will be added to this year’s festive schedule to allow Amazon a game alongside the Netflix pair. Last year more than 24 million viewers tuned in for the Christmas games, setting a new NFL streaming record. Even without the 18th game, the league’s owners are eager to push the limits of the NFL’s enormous commercial potential.

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