How Necessary are Pre-Season NFL Games? You Decide – Vote in Our Poll
August 24, 2021
It seems as though every year NFL fans toss around the argument about preseason football. “It’s worthless. The quality of play is awful. They don’t need to play these games.”
Well, it’s a new NFL season and preseason Week 3 is coming soon. We are going to leave the final decision on NFL preseason games to you. Submit your response in our poll after you finish reading about why preseason games are needed and why they are not. Ultimately, you can decide which way to go.
The Money
In 1971, Pat Toomay was a second-round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints. In a preseason game at Tulane Stadium, Toomay played in front of a record crowd of 81,000. He was shocked and asked someone what the total revenue generated by the game might be. He was told in the neighborhood of $600,000 (the equivalent of about $4 million today).
At the time in 1971, the NFL’s preseason football pay schedule paid players $175 each. Toomay figured each team’s expenses were a total of $20,000. It then dawned on him that preseason games were about one thing – money.
Economics
Up until recently (within the last five to six years), NFL teams required all of their season ticket holders to buy preseason game tickets at full price. Some teams, like New England, have dropped their preseason ticket prices but still require season ticket holders to buy them.
Season ticket holders have a few choices. Use the tickets and the attend the preseason game, do not attend the game, or sell them to someone else who will attend the game. Fans can find all sorts of NFL preseason tickets on outlets like StubHub, usually for up to 90 percent off the face value.
The game may not count but the beer and food prices are just as expensive.
Now, fans that do attend still pay to park somewhere near the stadium. At the game, they will pay full price for things like beer and hot dogs and other concessions. Don’t forget the sale of licensed apparel. If there were no preseason games, none of these transactions would take place…and the NFL wouldn’t have the opportunity at earning its cut.
NFL revenue dipped from $16 billion to $12 billion from 2019 to 2020. Some of that shortfall can be attributed to the coronavirus pandemic. Surely, some of the dip in revenue came from not playing a preseason schedule in 2020.
The Preseason Matters
For those that believe the preseason doesn’t matter, tell that to the 40 or so guys on each roster that are fighting for a job. Teams usually report to training camp with a roster of around 90. When the final cuts come at the end of August, teams trim their roster to 53. The only opportunity for many young players to make a team comes in the preseason.
Coaches like the preseason as well. It helps them sort out any position battles. In Denver for example, Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock are fighting for the starting quarterback job. The results of the preseason will help determine the Broncos starter.
New coaches also like the preseasons because it helps them and their players get used to new systems of offense, defense, and special teams. Players need time to adjust to new verbiage, new logistics, and more. Coaches need to assess their players and find their go-to guys.
There is also the fantasy football angle. The preseason is great for fantasy players in recognizing what rookies or other young players might be worthy of picking up for their fantasy team.
The Preseason Is Meaningless
The Los Angeles Rams went 10-6 in 2020 and earned a wild card berth in the NFC playoffs. In the offseason, they upgraded at quarterback trading Jared Goff for veteran Matthew Stafford. If you have paid attention to the 2021 NFL preseason, you would have noticed that Stafford has yet to take a snap with the Rams. If the preseason was so important, wouldn’t you think the Rams would want to see how their new quarterback has adapted to the offensive system?
Injuries
Just today it was announced that Jaguars RB Travis Etiene is out for the season after suffering an injury in a pre-season game. Back in the early 2000s, Michael Vick was one of the NFL’s most exciting players. In August 2003, Vick suffered a broken leg in a preseason game. He would miss ten games of the regular season. That is why Stafford and several other big name players have not even stepped on the field this preseason. Injuries can wreak havoc on a regular season. No NFL team needs to have one of their stars go down in a preseason game.
Changes
The NFL players association has fought with the NFL on the number of games played in a season. The 16-game schedule was difficult enough. Now, teams will play 17 though the total number of games – preseason and regular season – remains at 20. There has been talk of expanding the regular season to 18 games with the preseason dropping to just two. The current collective bargaining agreement does have language for moving from 16 to 17 games but not for 17 to 18. Expansion could come as soon as 2025 and not just in number of games either. There is also talk of two more expansion franchises to be added by 2030 or 2035. Should the league go to 18 games though, the preseason would most likely drop to two.
So, there it is. The NFL preseason matters. The NFL preseason is meaningless. What do you think?
