National Football League exhibition season
Encyclopedia
The National Football League preseason refers to the period each year during which NFL
teams play several not-for-the-record exhibition games before the actual "championship" or "regular" season
starts. Beginning with the featured Pro Football Hall of Fame game
in early August, five weekends of exhibition games are currently played in the NFL. The start of the preseason is intrinsically tied to the last week of training camp.
s (referred to by the NFL as "preseason games;" the league discourages the use of the term "exhibition game") from early August through early September. The Hall of Fame game
is played first in front of a national television audience, the only game on the first weekend. It does not count toward the normal allotment of four games, therefore the two teams playing in that contest (usually one each from the AFC
and NFC
) each play a total of five exhibition games.
The games are useful for new players who are not used to playing in front of very large crowds. Management often uses the games to evaluate newly signed players. Veteran players will generally play only for about a quarter of each game (or less) in order to avoid injury. Thus, first-stringers' playing time is kept brief in the exhibition season, and in fact players are not paid their regular salaries for exhibitions, but the same per diem which they receive for training camp. The exhibition game tickets, however, are usually the same price as regular-season games. Several lawsuits, by individual fans or by class action, have been brought against specific teams or the entire NFL over the practice of requiring season-ticket holders to purchase exhibition games. To date, none of these suits has been successful.
", and played squads from leagues outside their own, or against local college teams or other amateur groups, charging fans whatever the traffic would bear. These games might be played before, during or after the teams' regular seasons. The quality of the sport during this period was such that there was not much to be seen different in an exhibition game or a regularly scheduled game. But the players were just as competitive, and the fans demanded their money's worth. The only restriction was a major one: all games played against league opponents were considered regular season games, meaning only games played against teams from outside the league could be considered true exhibitions (the Staley Swindle
of 1921 was one notable implementation of this rule, which ended up impacting who won the championship that year). This rule was changed in 1924
, which set a firm date for the end of the season and declared any games after that point to be exhibition games.
By the 1960s, teams in both the NFL and the American Football League
began playing exhibition games toward the end of training camp and before the regular season, to acclimate players to game conditions. These games were priced well below the cost for regular-season games, and in some cases were "intrasquad" games, in which both offense and defense were made up of home-team players. Team owners realized modest profits from these games, because the players were still being paid only training camp per diem, so any game proceeds went strictly to management.
With the AFL-NFL merger of 1970, Professional Football was granted a Sherman Anti-Trust Act exemption, which emboldened some team owners to expand the exhibition schedule and to require season-ticket holders to pay for one, then two, then three home exhibition games if they wanted to keep their season tickets. The exhibition season then became, and remains, a large source of owner revenue that is not shared with the players. For several years through 1977, the NFL season consisted of 14 regular season games and six exhibition games, usually three at home and three away, with some played at neutral sites. Starting in 1978
, the regular season was expanded to 16 games, and the exhibition season was cut from six to four games.
From 1999 to 2001, when the league consisted of an uneven 31 teams, some additional exhibition games (usually 2 or 3) were played over Hall of Fame weekend
. In order to account for the uneven number of teams, each team was required to have a bye week during the exhibition season. Most teams held their bye week in Hall of Fame weekend, while the others utilized them somewhere else during the exhibition season. This practice was abandoned after the Houston Texans
were added to the league in 2002, giving it an even 32 teams.
The exhibition games do not count toward any statistics, streaks, season standings or records whatsoever. For instance, the four wins incurred by the 2008 Detroit Lions
in the exhibition season did not count "against them" when they went on to become the first team to lose all of their regular-season games
since 1976, and the 1972 Dolphins
, despite losing three exhibition games, are still considered to have played a perfect season
. Similarly, Ola Kimrin
's 65-yard field goal in an exhibition game is not considered the league record, despite being longer than the 63 yard mark set by Tom Dempsey
and later by Jason Elam
in the regular season.
Still, Professional Football
is popular enough that many fans still pay full price for exhibition game tickets, which they must purchase in order to keep their regular-season seats. Many teams are sold out on a season ticket basis and have large waiting lists, with fans required to pay a one-time or annual fee for the privilege of remaining on the waiting list. A minority of teams offer promotions and discounts to fill the stands for exhibition games; an example of this is the Buffalo Bills
' annual "Kids Day" promotion, where tickets, already the lowest priced in the league, are slashed to bargain-basement prices (around $10) for children under 12.
. This matchup was a "fifth" exhibition game for the two teams involved and was (often) played on the same weekend as the Hall of Fame Game. It was played outside the United States, usually in Mexico
or Japan
; in the latter case, it often involved games that started at 5:00 A.M. U.S. Eastern time. The American Bowl was held from 1986 to 2005; similar international matches had occurred regularly since 1969.
In addition, teams will often play home games at stadiums on the fringes of their markets, or in markets not currently served by NFL teams. The Alamodome
in San Antonio hosted games in this fashion as did Rogers Centre
(as part of the Bills Toronto Series
). The Citrus Bowl
was previously a common venue for games. The Carrier Dome
in Syracuse, New York
has been mentioned as a potential site for such a game, with the host team not yet mentioned.
or local broadcaster), and syndicated to other local stations in the region. NFL Network
also airs coverage of exhibition games, either live or tape delayed, switching between the home and visiting team feeds after halftime.
Exhibition games are almost exclusively played at night due to hot summer weather, and are frequently scheduled based on local convenience (e.g. games on the west coast tend to start at 7:00 p.m. PT
/10:00 p.m. ET
). The league's blackout restrictions apply, although stations are allowed to play the game on a tape delay if the game does not sell out (unlike the regular season policy, when rights revert to NFL Films
). Many more exhibition games fail to sell out than do regular-season games.
With the exception of the Hall of Fame Game, which is carried by Westwood One
, there is no national radio play-by-play of exhibition games. Furthermore, the games are still carried by the teams' local radio networks, but the affiliate count is often reduced due to conflicts with baseball and local sports.
The NFL schedules the matchups for all of the exhibition games. Since 2002, individual teams have been allowed to negotiate their own deals to play each other during the preseason. The league allows individual teams to provide input into desired matchups and determines the matchups for any games that were not individually negotiated; however, the league sets all game dates and times. The exhibition season schedule is released in the spring, shortly before the regular season schedule is announced. The NFL has set a loose precedent of determining exhibition matchups:
The teams that play in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game
are determined solely by the league (and the Hall of Fame committee
), featuring one AFC team and one NFC team. Its matchup is announced well in advance, around the time of the Super Bowl
, when the Hall of Fame
inductees are announced. Under some circumstances, the matchup is planned well into the future. For example, the Buccaneers
played the Steelers
in the 1998 Hall of Fame Game, a matchup that had been announced in 1983. In recent times, if there has been an expansion team added to the league, that team will be invited to play in the Hall of Fame game (Carolina, Jacksonville, the new Cleveland Browns, and Houston all played in their expansion seasons in 1995, 1995, 1999, and 2002 respectively). The 2009 game, however, was between two original American Football League
teams: the Buffalo Bills
and the Tennessee Titans
(formerly the Houston Oilers). This matchup was announced after Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. an AFL founder and the only owner ever of the Bills, was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
on February 1, 2009. The Titans' owner, Bud Adams
, is also the only owner his team has ever had, and the two are the only living members of the "Foolish Club
", the founders of the original eight AFL teams. Wilson and Adams are two of the only three men who have majority-owned a Professional Football franchise continuously for fifty years (the late George Halas
, who owned the Chicago Bears
from 1920 to 1983, is the third). The Hall of Fame game served as a kickoff to the 2009 season, which would have been the 50th season of play for the AFL, if the NFL had not merged with it.
Prior to the 1970 AFL–NFL merger it was common for teams to play each other twice in the same pre-season. Among the most recent occurrences were in 1992 when the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Oilers played on August 1 in Tokyo, then again on August 15, in Dallas, and in a more recent season, the Buccaneers and the Dolphins played each other twice in one preseason.
It was also commonplace for division opponents to play each other in the preseason, due to the larger size of pre-merger divisions, but this is no longer allowed. As recent as 1984, the Cleveland Browns
and Pittsburgh Steelers
played a preseason game despite the two being bitter rivals.
, usually the first game of the preseason, was played annually in Chicago from 1934 to 1976, and featured the NFL or World champion against an all-rookie team of college all-stars. During the earlier years of the competition, numerous other regional all-star games of the sort also existed. After the games became lopsided in favor of the NFL, they were abandoned. Between 1950 and 1961, the NFL also attempted exhibition matches against the Canadian Football League
(mixing NFL and CFL rules); these, too, were abandoned after the 1961 preseason, after the NFL won all six matchups (the CFL finally won a game against American opposition in August 1961, but this was against an American Football League
team; as a result of the embarrassment, the AFL opted not to play the CFL again beyond that one game).
Also, from 1967 to 1969, during the transition period leading up to the formal AFL-NFL merger
, the NFL and American Football League
played each other in a series of exhibition matches; notably, the 1969 match between the Buffalo Bills
and Washington Redskins
was the only time Vince Lombardi
ever lost to an AFL team. The 1968 games were played under an experimental rule that eliminated extra point
kicks and required a play from scrimmage
to score one point (a rule later implemented by the World Football League
in 1974 and the XFL
in 2001).
Since 1976, no NFL team has ever faced a team outside the league; this is in contrast to current practice in the NHL and recent practice in baseball, in which teams can play exhibition games against non-league teams.
. Previous seasons have seen the American Bowl
game held the last weekend of July. The first full schedule of exhibition games is held the following weekend. Most games are held on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday nights, with one nationally televised game each night of the week: NFL Network
airs a Thursday game, CBS
and Fox
a Friday and Saturday night game each, NBC with Sunday night games
, and ESPN a Monday night game
. Unlike the regular season, CBS's and Fox's national exhibition game opponents are selected regardless of conference. Four full weekends of games are held. The fourth and final full week of exhibition games (fifth weekend overall) usually has teams playing exclusively on Thursday and Friday nights, with no national games. This allows teams a few extra days to prepare for the first week
of the regular season. It also prevents conflict with the start of the regular seasons for high school and college football, allowing those venues to expand their first weekends' games from Thursday through Monday (Labor Day).
There is usually a conflict with the Major League Baseball season.
Nationally televised exhibition games start at 8:00 PM Eastern Time, while regionally televised games usually start at 7:00 PM local time.
On various occasions, severe weather or other factors, have postponed or outright canceled some preseason games. Due to their exhibition nature, suspended or canceled preseason games are normally not made up. In 2004, Hurricane Charley
postponed a Tampa Bay game against Cincinnati from Saturday until Monday. In 2001, a preseason game between Philadelphia and Baltimore was canceled due to turf problems at Veterans Stadium
.
Additionally, some players, coaches, and journalists, and numerous fans, object to the 4-week exhibition schedule. Players have little monetary incentive to play in exhibitions, since they are paid only a training-camp per diem for these games. Their salaries do not begin until the regular season, and thus they are essentially playing in exhibitions "for free". In spite of this, the risk of injury during the exhibition season is just as great as during the regular season. Regardless of these objections, owners continue to endorse the four-game exhibition season. The games are an easy source of revenue, and thus are unlikely to be dispensed within the foreseeable future.
raised the possibility of shortening the exhibition season, in favor of lengthening the regular season. There was a possibility that by 2012, the league would switch to two primary exhibition games (down from 4) and an 18-game regular season (up from 16). Reasons cited were solutions to future labor concerns about revenue, and the overall dissatisfaction with the exhibitions among players and fans. Also, since the NFL is now widely considered a competitive year-round business, veteran players normally train and condition year round, and do not need the extensive exhibition season to get back into playing shape after the previous regular season.
The proposal was eventually rejected in negotiations for the league's collective bargaining agreement, due to objections and concerns over fatigue and injuries raised by the National Football League Players Association.
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
teams play several not-for-the-record exhibition games before the actual "championship" or "regular" season
Regular season (NFL)
The National Football League regular season begins the weekend after Labor Day. Each team plays 16 games during a 17-week period. Traditionally, the majority of each week's games are played on Sunday afternoon, with weekly games on Sunday night and Monday night, and occasional games on Thursday...
starts. Beginning with the featured Pro Football Hall of Fame game
Pro Football Hall of Fame Game
The Pro Football Hall of Game is an annual National Football League exhibition game that is held the weekend of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's induction ceremonies. The game is played at Fawcett Stadium, which is located next door to the Hall of Fame building in Canton, Ohio...
in early August, five weekends of exhibition games are currently played in the NFL. The start of the preseason is intrinsically tied to the last week of training camp.
Exhibition season
Each summer has most NFL teams playing four exhibition gameExhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
s (referred to by the NFL as "preseason games;" the league discourages the use of the term "exhibition game") from early August through early September. The Hall of Fame game
Pro Football Hall of Fame Game
The Pro Football Hall of Game is an annual National Football League exhibition game that is held the weekend of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's induction ceremonies. The game is played at Fawcett Stadium, which is located next door to the Hall of Fame building in Canton, Ohio...
is played first in front of a national television audience, the only game on the first weekend. It does not count toward the normal allotment of four games, therefore the two teams playing in that contest (usually one each from the AFC
American Football Conference
The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL....
and NFC
National Football Conference
The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL.-Current teams:Since 2002, the NFC has comprised 16 teams,...
) each play a total of five exhibition games.
The games are useful for new players who are not used to playing in front of very large crowds. Management often uses the games to evaluate newly signed players. Veteran players will generally play only for about a quarter of each game (or less) in order to avoid injury. Thus, first-stringers' playing time is kept brief in the exhibition season, and in fact players are not paid their regular salaries for exhibitions, but the same per diem which they receive for training camp. The exhibition game tickets, however, are usually the same price as regular-season games. Several lawsuits, by individual fans or by class action, have been brought against specific teams or the entire NFL over the practice of requiring season-ticket holders to purchase exhibition games. To date, none of these suits has been successful.
History
Exhibition games have been played in Professional Football since the 1920s. In the early years of the sport, teams often "barnstormedBarnstorm (sports)
Barnstorming in athletics refers to sports teams or individuals that travel to various locations, usually small towns, to stage exhibition matches....
", and played squads from leagues outside their own, or against local college teams or other amateur groups, charging fans whatever the traffic would bear. These games might be played before, during or after the teams' regular seasons. The quality of the sport during this period was such that there was not much to be seen different in an exhibition game or a regularly scheduled game. But the players were just as competitive, and the fans demanded their money's worth. The only restriction was a major one: all games played against league opponents were considered regular season games, meaning only games played against teams from outside the league could be considered true exhibitions (the Staley Swindle
Staley Swindle
The 1921 NFL Championship controversy, known among Buffalo sports historians and fans as the Staley Swindle, is a dispute in which the Buffalo All-Americans unintentionally surrendered the 1921 APFA Championship title to the Chicago Staleys...
of 1921 was one notable implementation of this rule, which ended up impacting who won the championship that year). This rule was changed in 1924
1924 NFL season
The 1924 NFL season was the 5th regular season of the National Football League. The league had 18 teams play during the season, including the new clubs Frankford Yellow Jackets, Kansas City Blues, and Kenosha Maroons. The Louisville Brecks, Oorang Indians, St...
, which set a firm date for the end of the season and declared any games after that point to be exhibition games.
By the 1960s, teams in both the NFL and the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
began playing exhibition games toward the end of training camp and before the regular season, to acclimate players to game conditions. These games were priced well below the cost for regular-season games, and in some cases were "intrasquad" games, in which both offense and defense were made up of home-team players. Team owners realized modest profits from these games, because the players were still being paid only training camp per diem, so any game proceeds went strictly to management.
With the AFL-NFL merger of 1970, Professional Football was granted a Sherman Anti-Trust Act exemption, which emboldened some team owners to expand the exhibition schedule and to require season-ticket holders to pay for one, then two, then three home exhibition games if they wanted to keep their season tickets. The exhibition season then became, and remains, a large source of owner revenue that is not shared with the players. For several years through 1977, the NFL season consisted of 14 regular season games and six exhibition games, usually three at home and three away, with some played at neutral sites. Starting in 1978
1978 NFL season
The 1978 NFL season was the 59th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded the regular season from a 14-game schedule to 16. Furthermore, the playoff format was expanded from 8 teams to 10 teams by adding another wild card from each conference...
, the regular season was expanded to 16 games, and the exhibition season was cut from six to four games.
From 1999 to 2001, when the league consisted of an uneven 31 teams, some additional exhibition games (usually 2 or 3) were played over Hall of Fame weekend
Pro Football Hall of Fame Game
The Pro Football Hall of Game is an annual National Football League exhibition game that is held the weekend of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's induction ceremonies. The game is played at Fawcett Stadium, which is located next door to the Hall of Fame building in Canton, Ohio...
. In order to account for the uneven number of teams, each team was required to have a bye week during the exhibition season. Most teams held their bye week in Hall of Fame weekend, while the others utilized them somewhere else during the exhibition season. This practice was abandoned after the Houston Texans
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is currently a member of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
were added to the league in 2002, giving it an even 32 teams.
The exhibition games do not count toward any statistics, streaks, season standings or records whatsoever. For instance, the four wins incurred by the 2008 Detroit Lions
2008 Detroit Lions season
The 2008 Detroit Lions season was the 79th season for the franchise in the National Football League. Although the Lions had a flawless preseason with a 4-0 record, the Lions became the first team in NFL history to compile an 0-16 record in regular season play. They were mathematically eliminated...
in the exhibition season did not count "against them" when they went on to become the first team to lose all of their regular-season games
Imperfect season
An imperfect season is defined as a team losing all of their games. It is the antithesis of a perfect season, and is often referred to as such in a tongue-in-cheek manner...
since 1976, and the 1972 Dolphins
1972 Miami Dolphins season
The 1972 Miami Dolphins are the only National Football League team to win the Super Bowl with a perfect season. The undefeated campaign was led by coach Don Shula and notable players Bob Griese, Earl Morrall, and Larry Csonka...
, despite losing three exhibition games, are still considered to have played a perfect season
Perfect Season
A perfect season is any sports season, excluding the playoff portion of a season, in which a team remains undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, and has occurred more commonly at the collegiate level in the United States.A perfect season may...
. Similarly, Ola Kimrin
Ola Kimrin
Ola Fredrik Andreas Kimrin is an American football placekicker who most recently played for the Miami Dolphins in the National Football League.-Background and College:...
's 65-yard field goal in an exhibition game is not considered the league record, despite being longer than the 63 yard mark set by Tom Dempsey
Tom Dempsey
Thomas Dempsey is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints , Philadelphia Eagles , Los Angeles Rams , Houston Oilers and Buffalo Bills . He attended high school at San Dieguito High School and played college football at Palomar College...
and later by Jason Elam
Jason Elam
Jason Elam is a retired American football placekicker. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the third round of the 1993 NFL Draft. He played college football at Hawaii....
in the regular season.
Still, Professional Football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
is popular enough that many fans still pay full price for exhibition game tickets, which they must purchase in order to keep their regular-season seats. Many teams are sold out on a season ticket basis and have large waiting lists, with fans required to pay a one-time or annual fee for the privilege of remaining on the waiting list. A minority of teams offer promotions and discounts to fill the stands for exhibition games; an example of this is the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
' annual "Kids Day" promotion, where tickets, already the lowest priced in the league, are slashed to bargain-basement prices (around $10) for children under 12.
International and neutral-site games
Prior to the commencement of the International Series, the NFL had another "featured" exhibition game called the American BowlAmerican Bowl
The American Bowl was a series of National Football League pre-season exhibition games that were held at sites outside the United States between 1986 and 2005.- Overview :...
. This matchup was a "fifth" exhibition game for the two teams involved and was (often) played on the same weekend as the Hall of Fame Game. It was played outside the United States, usually in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
or Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
; in the latter case, it often involved games that started at 5:00 A.M. U.S. Eastern time. The American Bowl was held from 1986 to 2005; similar international matches had occurred regularly since 1969.
In addition, teams will often play home games at stadiums on the fringes of their markets, or in markets not currently served by NFL teams. The Alamodome
Alamodome
The Alamodome is a domed 65,000 seat, multi-purpose facility that is primarily used as a football/basketball stadium and convention center in San Antonio, Texas, U.S...
in San Antonio hosted games in this fashion as did Rogers Centre
Rogers Centre
Rogers Centre is a multi-purpose stadium, in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated next to the CN Tower, near the shores of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989, it is home to the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League...
(as part of the Bills Toronto Series
Bills Toronto Series
The Bills Toronto Series is a five-year deal consisting of a series of National Football League games featuring the Buffalo Bills played at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The series began in the 2008 NFL season and will end during the 2012 NFL season...
). The Citrus Bowl
Citrus Bowl
The Florida Citrus Bowl is a stadium in Orlando, Florida, USA, built for football, which currently seats around 70,000 people....
was previously a common venue for games. The Carrier Dome
Carrier Dome
The Carrier Dome is a 49,250-seat domed sports stadium located on the campus of Syracuse University in the University Hill neighborhood of Syracuse, New York, USA. It is home to the Syracuse Orange football, basketball, and lacrosse teams. High school football championships are also held in "The...
in Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
has been mentioned as a potential site for such a game, with the host team not yet mentioned.
Television and radio
Although several exhibition games are broadcast on television nationally, most exhibition games are in-house productions of the individual teams (often in association with a regional sports networkRegional sports network
In the United States of America and Canada, a regional sports network, or RSN, is a cable television station that presents sports programming to a local market. The most important programming on an RSN consists of live broadcasts of professional and college sporting events, as those games generate...
or local broadcaster), and syndicated to other local stations in the region. NFL Network
NFL Network
NFL Network is an American television specialty channel owned and operated by the National Football League . It was launched November 4, 2003, only eight months after the league's 32 team owners voted unanimously to approve its formation...
also airs coverage of exhibition games, either live or tape delayed, switching between the home and visiting team feeds after halftime.
Exhibition games are almost exclusively played at night due to hot summer weather, and are frequently scheduled based on local convenience (e.g. games on the west coast tend to start at 7:00 p.m. PT
Pacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...
/10:00 p.m. ET
North American Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
). The league's blackout restrictions apply, although stations are allowed to play the game on a tape delay if the game does not sell out (unlike the regular season policy, when rights revert to NFL Films
NFL Films
NFL Films is a Mount Laurel, New Jersey-based company devoted to producing commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries on the National Football League, as well as other unrelated major events and awards shows...
). Many more exhibition games fail to sell out than do regular-season games.
With the exception of the Hall of Fame Game, which is carried by Westwood One
NFL on Westwood One
The NFL on Westwood One is the brand name given to weekly National Football League games carried on the radio over the Dial Global Radio Network...
, there is no national radio play-by-play of exhibition games. Furthermore, the games are still carried by the teams' local radio networks, but the affiliate count is often reduced due to conflicts with baseball and local sports.
Matchups
Unlike the regular season, the exhibition matchups are not based on any rotating or set formula.The NFL schedules the matchups for all of the exhibition games. Since 2002, individual teams have been allowed to negotiate their own deals to play each other during the preseason. The league allows individual teams to provide input into desired matchups and determines the matchups for any games that were not individually negotiated; however, the league sets all game dates and times. The exhibition season schedule is released in the spring, shortly before the regular season schedule is announced. The NFL has set a loose precedent of determining exhibition matchups:
- No two teams will face each other in the same exhibition season more than once. (See below)
- No NFL team will play a team outside the league. (See below)
- Teams in the same division will not play one another during the exhibition season. (See below)
- The league shies away from teams playing in the exhibition season if they are scheduled to play in the regular season. However, this is not always avoidable.
- Interconference game (AFCAmerican Football ConferenceThe American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL....
vs. NFCNational Football ConferenceThe National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL.-Current teams:Since 2002, the NFC has comprised 16 teams,...
) matchups are common and encouraged, since regular season matchups between interconference teams are infrequent (teams play other-conference teams only once every four years during the regular season). These games allow teams to travel to particular markets more frequently than normal, and represent "fresh" matchups. - Geographically close matchups are preferred, to provide teams with minimal (if possible) exhibition season travel. As such, intrastate rivalsCrosstown rivalryIn sports, a crosstown rivalry is a rivalry between two teams in the same metropolitan area. It is a term primarily used in the United States and Canada. They are called "crosstown rivalries" because in most cases, they are held in large cities or metropolitan areas where each team represents a...
are frequent matchups, provided they are not already division foes (GiantsNew York GiantsThe New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
/JetsNew York JetsThe New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, RavensBaltimore RavensThe Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...
/RedskinsWashington RedskinsThe Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
, EaglesPhiladelphia EaglesThe Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
/SteelersPittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
, 49ersSan Francisco 49ersThe San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
/RaidersOakland RaidersThe Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, BucsTampa Bay BuccaneersThe Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...
/DolphinsMiami DolphinsThe Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
/JaguarsJacksonville JaguarsThe Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, etc., are all frequent exhibition matchups). The BroncosDenver BroncosThe Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and CardinalsArizona CardinalsThe Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, the only two teams in the Mountain Time Zone, also play every preseason. - Teams with close personal ties often play each other. The SteelersPittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
and the PanthersCarolina PanthersThe Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...
have annually closed out the preseason together despite a 450-mile distance between Pittsburgh and CharlotteCharlotte, North CarolinaCharlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
. There are numerous Pittsburgh-area ties to the Panthers organization, including former head coach John Fox (a former assistant at PittPittsburgh Panthers footballPittsburgh Panthers football is the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Traditionally the most popular sport at the university, Pitt football has played at the highest level of American college football...
and the Steelers), ex-Steeler linebackers Greg Lloyd and Kevin GreeneKevin GreeneKevin Darwin Greene is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League for 15 years and who retired after the 1999 NFL season...
finishing out their careers at Carolina, and former Steelers safety Donnie ShellDonnie ShellDonnie Shell is a former American Football strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League between 1974 and 1987. Shell was a member of the Steelers famed Steel Curtain defense in the 1970s.Shell retired as the NFL strong safety career leader in interceptions with 51...
having served as the Panthers Director of Player Development since the team's inception. On the flip side, former Steelers head coach Bill CowherBill CowherWilliam Laird "Bill" Cowher is a former American football coach and player. Cowher resigned after 15 seasons as the Steelers' coach on January 5, 2007, 11 months to the day after winning 2005–06's Super Bowl XL...
attended N.C. StateNorth Carolina State UniversityNorth Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
and currently lives in RaleighRaleigh, North CarolinaRaleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
. Former Steelers players Willie ParkerWillie Parker"Fast" Willie Everette Parker Jr. is an American football running back for the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He played college football at North Carolina...
and Jeff Reed both attended UNCUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
. This also reflects on the increasing number of Western PennsylvaniaWestern PennsylvaniaWestern Pennsylvania consists of the western third of the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. Pittsburgh is the largest city in the region, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic and cultural center. Erie, Altoona, and Johnstown are its...
natives in relocating to the CarolinasThe CarolinasThe Carolinas is a term used in the United States to refer collectively to the states of North and South Carolina. Together, the two states + have a population of 13,942,126. "Carolina" would be the fifth most populous state behind California, Texas, New York, and Florida...
. Similarly, the Buffalo BillsBuffalo BillsThe Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and Detroit LionsDetroit LionsThe Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
play each other annually in the preseason, since Bills owner Ralph Wilson is a native of Detroit and at one point owned a share of the Lions. In addition, both Buffalo and Detroit are the only NFL cities that border CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, with each city located on opposite sides of Southern OntarioSouthern OntarioSouthern Ontario is a region of the province of Ontario, Canada that lies south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14 to 15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of...
, and both teams have missed the playoffs every year since the 2002 realignment, assuring that the game has a realistic chance of being competitive. - Along with general in-state rivalries, some long-established "Governor's Cups" are played annually.
- TexasGovernor's Cup (Texas)The Texas Governor's Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the football game between the NFL's Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans. The two teams usually meet in the pre-season in years they do not play in the regular season. However in 2010 the teams faced each other in the pre-season and in...
- DallasDallas CowboysThe Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
vs. HoustonHouston TexansThe Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is currently a member of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
(formerly Cowboys vs. Houston OilersTennessee TitansThe Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
from 1967–96) - MissouriGovernor's Cup (Missouri)The Missouri Governor's Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner between the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Rams' annual meetings in the preseason and occasional contests in the regular season....
- Kansas CityKansas City ChiefsThe Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
vs. St. LouisSt. Louis RamsThe St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
(formerly Chiefs vs. Cardinals from 1970–87)
- Texas
- After the division realignment in 2002, the NFL factors in former division rivalries which were broken due to teams moving to different divisions. For a five-year period from 2002–2006, the league had the authority to schedule former division rivals for exhibition games (the Cardinals and Seattle SeahawksSeattle SeahawksThe Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...
, who were switched from the NFC EastNFC EastThe NFC East is a division of the National Football League's National Football Conference. It currently has four members: the Philadelphia Eagles, the New York Giants, the Dallas Cowboys, and Washington Redskins....
and AFC WestAFC WestThe AFC West is a division of the National Football League's American Football Conference, currently comprising the Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Oakland Raiders.-History:...
, respectively, to the NFC WestNFC WestThe NFC West is a division of the National Football League's National Football Conference. It currently has four members: Arizona Cardinals, St...
, are the most notable examples). It was a move intended to recover potentially lost revenue due to the end of a popular annual rivalry gameSports rivalryA sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes. This pressure of competition is felt by players, coaches, and management, but is perhaps felt strongest by the fans. The intensity of the rivalry varies from a friendly competition on one end to serious violence on the...
. In some rare cases, the league has scheduled "hot" regular-season matchups if they did not happen to be scheduled to play that season. For instance, Tampa BayTampa Bay BuccaneersThe Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...
and St. LouisSt. Louis RamsThe St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
had a popular mini-rivalry from 1999 to 2004. The teams were not scheduled to play one another in 2003, so the league reacted by scheduling a Monday night preseason game for them that season.
The teams that play in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game
Pro Football Hall of Fame Game
The Pro Football Hall of Game is an annual National Football League exhibition game that is held the weekend of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's induction ceremonies. The game is played at Fawcett Stadium, which is located next door to the Hall of Fame building in Canton, Ohio...
are determined solely by the league (and the Hall of Fame committee
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
), featuring one AFC team and one NFC team. Its matchup is announced well in advance, around the time of the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
, when the Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
inductees are announced. Under some circumstances, the matchup is planned well into the future. For example, the Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...
played the Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
in the 1998 Hall of Fame Game, a matchup that had been announced in 1983. In recent times, if there has been an expansion team added to the league, that team will be invited to play in the Hall of Fame game (Carolina, Jacksonville, the new Cleveland Browns, and Houston all played in their expansion seasons in 1995, 1995, 1999, and 2002 respectively). The 2009 game, however, was between two original American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
teams: the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and the Tennessee Titans
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
(formerly the Houston Oilers). This matchup was announced after Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. an AFL founder and the only owner ever of the Bills, was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
on February 1, 2009. The Titans' owner, Bud Adams
Bud Adams
Kenneth Stanley "Bud" Adams, Jr. is the owner of the Tennessee Titans' National Football League franchise. He was instrumental in the founding and establishment of the former American Football League. Adams became a charter AFL owner with the establishment of the Titans franchise, which was...
, is also the only owner his team has ever had, and the two are the only living members of the "Foolish Club
Foolish Club
The Foolish Club was the self-imposed name taken by the owners of the eight original franchises of the American Football League . When Texas millionaires Lamar Hunt and Bud Adams, Jr. were refused entry to the established NFL in 1959, they contacted other businessmen to form an eight-team...
", the founders of the original eight AFL teams. Wilson and Adams are two of the only three men who have majority-owned a Professional Football franchise continuously for fifty years (the late George Halas
George Halas
George Stanley Halas, Sr. , nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was a player, coach, owner and pioneer in professional American football. He was the iconic longtime leader of the NFL's Chicago Bears...
, who owned the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
from 1920 to 1983, is the third). The Hall of Fame game served as a kickoff to the 2009 season, which would have been the 50th season of play for the AFL, if the NFL had not merged with it.
Prior to the 1970 AFL–NFL merger it was common for teams to play each other twice in the same pre-season. Among the most recent occurrences were in 1992 when the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Oilers played on August 1 in Tokyo, then again on August 15, in Dallas, and in a more recent season, the Buccaneers and the Dolphins played each other twice in one preseason.
It was also commonplace for division opponents to play each other in the preseason, due to the larger size of pre-merger divisions, but this is no longer allowed. As recent as 1984, the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
played a preseason game despite the two being bitter rivals.
Non-league opponents
The College All-Star GameCollege All-Star Game
The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was a preseason American football game played annually from 1934 to 1976 between the National Football League champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year...
, usually the first game of the preseason, was played annually in Chicago from 1934 to 1976, and featured the NFL or World champion against an all-rookie team of college all-stars. During the earlier years of the competition, numerous other regional all-star games of the sort also existed. After the games became lopsided in favor of the NFL, they were abandoned. Between 1950 and 1961, the NFL also attempted exhibition matches against the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
(mixing NFL and CFL rules); these, too, were abandoned after the 1961 preseason, after the NFL won all six matchups (the CFL finally won a game against American opposition in August 1961, but this was against an American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
team; as a result of the embarrassment, the AFL opted not to play the CFL again beyond that one game).
Also, from 1967 to 1969, during the transition period leading up to the formal AFL-NFL merger
AFL-NFL Merger
The AFL–NFL merger of 1970 was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League and the American Football League...
, the NFL and American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
played each other in a series of exhibition matches; notably, the 1969 match between the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
was the only time Vince Lombardi
Vince Lombardi
Vincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi was an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight league championships and five in seven years, including winning the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and...
ever lost to an AFL team. The 1968 games were played under an experimental rule that eliminated extra point
Extra Point
Extra Point is a twice-daily, two-minute segment on ESPN Radio that covers generic sports-related topical news and opinion. The AM edition airs Monday through Saturday at various times between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET, and the PM edition airs Monday through Friday between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET...
kicks and required a play from scrimmage
Two-point conversion
In American and Canadian football, a two-point conversion is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point convert immediately after it scores a touchdown...
to score one point (a rule later implemented by the World Football League
World Football League
The World Football League was a short-lived gridiron football league that played in 1974 and part of 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest the WFL reached was placing a team – the Hawaiians – in Honolulu, Hawaii. The...
in 1974 and the XFL
XFL
The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...
in 2001).
Since 1976, no NFL team has ever faced a team outside the league; this is in contrast to current practice in the NHL and recent practice in baseball, in which teams can play exhibition games against non-league teams.
Schedule
The exhibition season typically begins the first weekend of August with the Hall of Fame GamePro Football Hall of Fame Game
The Pro Football Hall of Game is an annual National Football League exhibition game that is held the weekend of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's induction ceremonies. The game is played at Fawcett Stadium, which is located next door to the Hall of Fame building in Canton, Ohio...
. Previous seasons have seen the American Bowl
American Bowl
The American Bowl was a series of National Football League pre-season exhibition games that were held at sites outside the United States between 1986 and 2005.- Overview :...
game held the last weekend of July. The first full schedule of exhibition games is held the following weekend. Most games are held on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday nights, with one nationally televised game each night of the week: NFL Network
NFL Network
NFL Network is an American television specialty channel owned and operated by the National Football League . It was launched November 4, 2003, only eight months after the league's 32 team owners voted unanimously to approve its formation...
airs a Thursday game, CBS
NFL on CBS
The NFL on CBS is the brand name of the CBS television network's coverage of the National Football League's American Football Conference games, produced by CBS Sports.-Market coverage and television policies:...
and Fox
NFL on FOX
NFL on Fox is the brand name of the Fox Broadcasting Company's coverage of the National Football League's National Football Conference games, produced by Fox Sports...
a Friday and Saturday night game each, NBC with Sunday night games
NBC Sunday Night Football
NBC Sunday Night Football is a weekly television broadcast of Sunday evening National Football League games on NBC that began airing on Sunday, August 6, 2006 with the pre-season opening Hall of Fame Game. Al Michaels serves as the play-by-play announcer, with Cris Collinsworth as the color...
, and ESPN a Monday night game
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
. Unlike the regular season, CBS's and Fox's national exhibition game opponents are selected regardless of conference. Four full weekends of games are held. The fourth and final full week of exhibition games (fifth weekend overall) usually has teams playing exclusively on Thursday and Friday nights, with no national games. This allows teams a few extra days to prepare for the first week
National Football League Kickoff game
The NFL Kickoff game, and related festivities, mark the start of the National Football League season. The first game of the season is currently scheduled for the Thursday following Labor Day. A single game is held, preceded by a concert and other ceremonies. Since the 2004 season, the defending...
of the regular season. It also prevents conflict with the start of the regular seasons for high school and college football, allowing those venues to expand their first weekends' games from Thursday through Monday (Labor Day).
There is usually a conflict with the Major League Baseball season.
Nationally televised exhibition games start at 8:00 PM Eastern Time, while regionally televised games usually start at 7:00 PM local time.
On various occasions, severe weather or other factors, have postponed or outright canceled some preseason games. Due to their exhibition nature, suspended or canceled preseason games are normally not made up. In 2004, Hurricane Charley
Hurricane Charley
Hurricane Charley was the third named storm, the second hurricane, and the second major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. Charley lasted from August 9 to August 15, and at its peak intensity it attained 150 mph winds, making it a strong Category 4 hurricane on the...
postponed a Tampa Bay game against Cincinnati from Saturday until Monday. In 2001, a preseason game between Philadelphia and Baltimore was canceled due to turf problems at Veterans Stadium
Veterans Stadium
Philadelphia Veterans Stadium was a professional-sports, multi-purpose stadium, located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
.
Controversy
Currently, every NFL team requires its season ticket holders to purchase tickets at full price for two exhibition games as a requirement to purchase regular-season tickets. Complaints regarding this policy have gone all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, but have failed to change the policy. A judgment in 1974 stated: "No fewer than five lawsuits have been instituted from Dallas to New England, each claiming that the respective National Football League (NFL) team had violated the Sherman Act by requiring an individual who wishes to purchase a season ticket for all regular season games to buy, in addition, tickets for one or more exhibition or preseason games."Additionally, some players, coaches, and journalists, and numerous fans, object to the 4-week exhibition schedule. Players have little monetary incentive to play in exhibitions, since they are paid only a training-camp per diem for these games. Their salaries do not begin until the regular season, and thus they are essentially playing in exhibitions "for free". In spite of this, the risk of injury during the exhibition season is just as great as during the regular season. Regardless of these objections, owners continue to endorse the four-game exhibition season. The games are an easy source of revenue, and thus are unlikely to be dispensed within the foreseeable future.
Proposed reductions
In 2008, NFL commissioner Roger GoodellRoger Goodell
Roger S. Goodell is the Commissioner of the National Football League , having been chosen to succeed the retiring Paul Tagliabue on August 8, 2006. He was chosen over four finalists for the position, winning a close vote on the fifth ballot before being unanimously approved by acclamation of the...
raised the possibility of shortening the exhibition season, in favor of lengthening the regular season. There was a possibility that by 2012, the league would switch to two primary exhibition games (down from 4) and an 18-game regular season (up from 16). Reasons cited were solutions to future labor concerns about revenue, and the overall dissatisfaction with the exhibitions among players and fans. Also, since the NFL is now widely considered a competitive year-round business, veteran players normally train and condition year round, and do not need the extensive exhibition season to get back into playing shape after the previous regular season.
The proposal was eventually rejected in negotiations for the league's collective bargaining agreement, due to objections and concerns over fatigue and injuries raised by the National Football League Players Association.