The NFL and its team owners are not aligning with Aaron Rodgers’ suggestion to hold all international games in a single week. According to Front Office Sports, there is no backing for Rodgers’ plan within the league and among owners. A source shared, “You’d be competing against yourself” by scheduling international games all in one week.
Additionally, Rodgers’ claim that such an arrangement was discussed during the labor negotiations leading to the 2020 Collective Bargaining Agreement has been refuted. One source expressed skepticism to Front Office Sports, “I’m quite sure we never talked about a 16-game season with two byes and 16 international games in one week.”
Rodgers led the Pittsburgh Steelers to victory against the New Orleans Saints in France on Sunday. Post-game, Rodgers commented on the idea of all 32 NFL teams playing internationally within the same week. “There was talk about doing a week – an international week – where you had games in 16 different places, and you just added an extra bye week,” he said, according to ESPN. “So you play 16 regular-season [weeks], you have two bye weeks – one of those weeks would’ve been an international week.”
Rodgers felt this could have been greatly beneficial for the sport. However, he noted that the owners were more inclined towards a 17-game season for increased revenue and player safety considerations. Despite this, Rodgers believed the idea would have been advantageous.
Currently, the NFL has nine international games lined up for this season. These events take place across nine separate weeks. The upcoming game features the Cincinnati Bengals against the Atlanta Falcons in Spain on November 8.