NFL preseason
In 1920, the National Football League formed with a simple rule: every game counted toward the championship. Teams played each other in a league that had no preseason yet. Before this formalization, independent squads barnstormed across the country, charging fans whatever they could get for admission to test matches against college teams or amateur groups. The league changed its rules in 1921 to allow non-league exhibitions while banning games between two league members. This decision directly influenced the 1921 championship when the losing team argued their deciding match should count as an exhibition. By 1924, the league declared any December games to be exhibitions. Mid-1930s schedules settled into a standard twelve-game regular season, though teams still scheduled non-league games before and during the year. The Pittsburgh Pirates, later known as the Steelers, played both NFL games and limited Western Pennsylvania circuit matches throughout the 1930s.
The 1970 AFL-NFL merger granted the newly merged league a Sherman Anti-Trust Act exemption. Team owners used this power to expand the exhibition schedule significantly. From 1970 through 1977, the season included fourteen regular games and six exhibition games. Some teams like the Washington Redskins played all but one of those six home games in 1974. Owners required season-ticket holders to pay for one, then two, then three home exhibition games just to keep their seats. Legal challenges followed immediately. Five lawsuits from Dallas to New England claimed the NFL violated the Sherman Act by forcing fans to buy preseason tickets alongside regular season ones. A 1974 judgment confirmed these claims but failed to change the policy. The regular season lengthened to sixteen games while the exhibition count dropped from six to four. By 1999, an uneven thirty-one team league forced additional exhibitions over Hall of Fame weekend. Each team received a bye week during that period until the Houston Texans joined in 2002 to create an even thirty-two team roster.
Since 2002, individual teams negotiate their own matchups while the league sets dates and times. No two teams face each other more than once in the same season since 1998 when San Francisco and Seattle played twice. Teams within the same division rarely play one another now; the last intra-division matchup occurred in 2000 between the Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders. Interconference games remain common because AFC versus NFC regular season meetings happen only once every four years. Geographically close matchups minimize travel time. Intrastate rivals like the Giants and Jets meet frequently at MetLife Bowl. The Eagles and Jets have concluded the preseason together annually since 2001 due to proximity. Personal ties drive scheduling too. The Giants and Patriots close out their preseason together as owners are friends. The Steelers and Panthers met from 2003 to 2021 despite being thousands of miles apart. Pittsburgh-area ties include former head coach John Fox and players Greg Lloyd and Kevin Greene finishing careers at Carolina. Donnie Shell served as Panthers Director of Player Development from 1994 to 2009. David Tepper became majority owner of the Panthers after owning a minority stake.
The American Bowl ran from 1986 to 2005, playing outside the United States usually in Mexico or Japan. Similar international matches had occurred regularly since 1969. Before that era, teams played home games on fringes of markets or in unserved areas. The Alamodome in San Antonio hosted such games while Rogers Centre served as part of the Bills Toronto Series. Camp Randall Stadium hosted one Green Bay Packers game per year until the late 1990s. In June 2019, the Green Bay Packers and Oakland Raiders announced a game at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The CFL tenant rejected Regina's Mosaic Stadium fearing field conversion issues. Teams decided near game time to play on an eighty-yard field without kickoffs making the ten yard-line the actual goal line. Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams played at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii on the 17th of August 2019. This marked the last NFL game held at that constant site before condemnation ended its use in 2020. Prior to these events, the College All-Star Game featured the NFL champion against college all-stars annually in Chicago from 1934 to 1976.
Selected preseason games air nationally through main broadcast partners including NBC for the Hall of Fame Game outside Summer Olympics years. Fox airs Sunday night games while ESPN handles Monday night broadcasts. Most other games are in-house productions by individual teams often paired with local broadcasters or Raycom Sports. Rightsholders may subcontract to regional networks like CBS Sports for Atlanta Falcons or Bally Sports Detroit for Detroit Lions. These arrangements allow networks to evaluate their own production teams before the season starts. Preseason broadcasts syndicate to station networks within team markets including analysis shows and coach programs. Games almost exclusively occur at night due to hot summer weather. Blackout restrictions apply though stations can tape delay unsold games unlike regular season policy where rights revert to NFL Films. No blackout has been applied since 2015 following an owners' vote eliminating rules for at least two seasons. Compass Media Networks carries select contests involving Las Vegas Raiders and Dallas Cowboys nationwide starting in 2015.
Every NFL team requires season ticket holders to purchase tickets at full price for two exhibition games as a condition for buying regular season seats. Players receive only training camp per diems for these games since salaries begin with the regular season. They essentially play exhibitions without pay despite objections from players, coaches, journalists, and fans. Coaches rarely start starters; Sean McVay elected not to play any starter since his first head coaching season in 2017. Teams schedule joint practices instead allowing first-team players against other first-teams in controlled environments. Preseason games feature bubble players who must prove worthiness for final fifty-three man rosters. Rote plays dominate offense to avoid tipping hands to future opponents. Owners continued endorsing four-game schedules despite player resistance. The National Football League Players Association pushed for elimination of 2020 preseason entirely replacing games with extended isolated practice sessions. A 1974 judgment confirmed lawsuits claiming Sherman Act violations but failed to alter policy.
On the 10th of June 2020, the NFL Network reported discussions about shortening or eliminating the four-game preseason after COVID-19 disrupted off-season activities. On the 1st of July 2020, media outlets announced the league decided to reduce the schedule to two weeks by canceling Weeks One and Four. Every team played one home and road game before the regular season started the 10th of September 2020. The NFLPA voted July 3 to push for total elimination of 2020 preseason. By July 21, a week before training camp opened, the league canceled all preseason games. In 2021, the Competition Committee voted to extend the regular season to seventeen games reducing the preseason to three per team. Teams playing in the Hall of Fame Game still play four games. That same year, Baltimore Ravens and John Harbaugh claimed twenty consecutive preseason wins overtaking Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers record. Overtime abolished in 2021 marked the first time since 1974. The 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game scheduled for August 6 was canceled along with the induction ceremony.
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Common questions
When did the National Football League form and what were its initial rules regarding games?
The National Football League formed in 1920 with a rule that every game counted toward the championship. Teams played each other in a league that had no preseason yet.
How many exhibition games were included in the NFL schedule from 1970 through 1977 after the AFL-NFL merger?
From 1970 through 1977, the season included fourteen regular games and six exhibition games. Team owners used their Sherman Anti-Trust Act exemption to expand the exhibition schedule significantly during this period.
What happened to the NFL preseason schedule in 2020 due to COVID-19 disruptions?
On the 21st of July 2020, the league canceled all preseason games before training camp opened. Every team played one home and road game before the regular season started on the 10th of September 2020.
Which teams played the last NFL game at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii and when was it held?
Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams played at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii on the 17th of August 2019. This marked the last NFL game held at that constant site before condemnation ended its use in 2020.
Why do coaches rarely start starters in NFL preseason games like Sean McVay did in 2017?
Coaches rarely start starters because teams schedule joint practices instead allowing first-team players against other first-teams in controlled environments. Rote plays dominate offense to avoid tipping hands to future opponents.