Report: NFL expected to expand regular season to 17 games

March 30, 2021 - 2:49pm

The NFL logo is on the goal post at Heinz Field before an NFL football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Buffalo Bills in Pittsburgh. (Keith Srakocic/AP)

The NFL is expected to announce the expansion of the regular season to 17 games this week, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

NFL is expected to expand the regular season schedule this week to 17 games. The league had played a 16-game regular season schedule since 1978, by far the longest stretch without a change in NFL history.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 28, 2021

The change would be the first adjustment to the NFL schedule since 1978.

With the addition of an extra game on each team’s schedule, the NFL is also reportedly considering using those extra games for international play, according to the The Washington Post.

“The league’s plan, according to a person familiar with the matter, would be to take four of the additional games in a 17-game season annually and make them neutral-site games for international play, beginning in 2022,” wrote The Post’s Mark Maske.

“The four games would be chosen from among the home games of the teams in whichever conference has its teams playing nine home games apiece that season.”