FanPost

Pro Bowl idea I wanted to toss out for fun

I assume everyone knows the Pro Bowl is somewhat lacking in popularity these days. Since the NFL cares so much about expanding the game worldwide in popularity and adding games I have a somewhat unrealistic idea that I think would make everyone winners. I expect many attacks on the logistics and realism of what I'm about to propose but please bear with me.

The current format is lacking in incentive for both players and fans alike and ultimately making it not very profitable venture for the NFL or fun for the fans. So I'm proposing a new format that would choose Pro Bowl teams by division rather than conference and having a playoff format for the games. This would create 7 games and that it could hold venues in emerging markets putting the stars on display. The players would receive monetary compensation for each game played with the winning team receiving more money than the losers. The pay scale would have to step up for each round as well to encourage players to put in a real effort. The final game could be given a fancy name like the Divisional World Championship with a fancy trophy that would travel though the season to the team in the division that were the victors. As the championship division you would earn the right to host the next season's Divisional World Championship game rotating between the home field of the teams in the winning division.

Logistics of this would be a little challenging but lets look at how to make it work. For a playoff system with meaningful games there has to be money involved for the players. If there is no monetary incentive it will not work. The second issue is for this format to work preparation for coaching staffs and 3 weeks will be needed. I was thinking the last 3 weeks of March would fit. That would give a solid month following the Superbowl for preparation and it would also fill the boring month of March up until the draft. It would also allow time for players receiving any injuries that may occur in the games to heal prior to the next season.

There are obviously drawbacks to this too. Injuries are a concern as always. Another concern is obviously more games for the stars. Too much popularity in a divisional superstar playoff would be it could grow to overshadow and minimize the Super Bowl.

All in all I think everyone would be getting a good product if this format was adopted and the pros outweigh the cons. The NFL would get more games and a longer season which would translate into more money. Regular season stats and records would not be affected and it would be an opportunity to have a couple games in London or other locations to market the stars without fans at home losing home games. I did get lazy near the end so feel free to share your thoughts on points I left out or forgot all together.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pride Of Detroit or its writers.