NFL Expansion: How A Massive Expansion Could Work

NFL expansion has been a big topic of conversation in the past week. Ever since Roger Goodell dropped the bombshell that the NFL was looking at four teams in Europe, people have been speculating on how this could work. Other outlets have reported that the NFL is looking to expand as early as 2025. Here’s how a massive NFL expansion could work.

Where Would The NFL Expand?

This seems like the obvious question to tackle first. There are actually a lot of options of cities for NFL expansion. Cities like St. Louis, San Diego, and Oakland have already housed NFL teams and could do so again. Other domestic cities that have long been rumored to be possible destinations for a team would be San Antonio and Salt Lake City. Some outlets have thrown some “out there” cities as well. Honolulu, Hawaii would be a great destination for an NFL expansion team. Veterans would love to extend their careers in a warm climate and fans would love to travel to see their team in Hawaii.

Internationally also has many options. We already know the NFL is looking at London and places in Germany as possible places for NFL expansion teams. However, there are more North American cities that would work as well. Mexico City has hosted a handful of games and are doing so again this season. Cities in Canada, like Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa, already have teams in other predominantly American leagues. These places also do not have the time zone issue that a European expansion has. Overall, the league has between 10 and 12 legit options for NFL expansion.

How Many Teams Will Be A Part Of The NFL Expansion?

It seems that the NFL is looking at multiple teams for expansion. Goodell already dropped that they are looking at four teams in Europe. As a part of a massive NFL expansion, they could bring in a couple of North American teams as well whether that is domestically or internationally. The more teams there are, the more complicated this gets. If it is just a Europe expansion, those four teams would go in one division. That comes with its own challenges which I covered in a previous article.

If the NFL expansion comes in North America, those teams could either form their own division or insert into other divisions. Inserting into other divisions would be complicated as it would likely involve totally redoing the divisional landscape. However, making another division would mean the expansion teams would have to be somewhat geographically close. The possible cities are spread all over the place so this does not seem likely. This is a huge challenge for NFL expansion. Division and possible conference realignment would be a massive overhaul of the league. It’s possible but would be a lot of work.

More Game Weeks and Bye Weeks

There would have to be more games to accommodate the influx of teams. Especially if the NFL expansion happens overseas, a bye week specifically for the teams heading across the pond would be necessary. I don’t see anywhat the players union approves anything that doesn’t give their players additional rest. The additional bye week would help everyone overall and it wouldn’t add any more games for teams just another week for the NFL to capitalize on. This seems like the easiest hurdle to clear. Convincing players that they get an additional week off a year does not seem that hard and the NFL would love another week to be on the airwaves.

The playoffs would probably also have to be expanded in the NFL expansion. If there was a massive influx of teams, the NFL would probably want to keep a similar percentage of teams going to the playoffs. There are many ways the NFL could do this. They could eliminate first round byes and have eight teams from each conference. Or you go back to the top two teams getting byes and adding the necessary teams in order to make the playoff bracket work. However they decide to go about this, I see more playoff teams in the future for the NFL.

NFL Expansion Draft

After teams were chosen, there would be an NFL expansion draft. Most recently this was done in 2002 when the Houston Texans came into the league. Basically each team has a set amount of players that they deem as safe. The other players are fair game for the expansion teams to draft to their team. When the Texans came into the league, any player drafted also came with their current salary. This prevents the expansion team from simply taking on a massive amount of contracts at the expense of other teams.

This worked really well for just one team. If the NFL decides to bring in an entire Europe division and/or other North American teams, this would be a pretty massive expansion draft. Teams could get substantially gutted if four teams were able to choose players. Also, those teams would get draft picks in the NFL draft that year. How terrible would it be to be in line for a top prospect only for the league to give the top picks to the expanding teams. Ultimately teams would figure it out as they would see this coming. The league is most likely communicating with the owners their thoughts on NFL expansion (though with Roger Goodell, you never know).

My Ideas For NFL Expansion

I have a solution to make a massive expansion work. It takes on the European soccer model of different leagues. I think the NFL should have two leagues and teams risk relegation. Let me explain for those unfamiliar. In European soccer, there is usually one top league and then a bunch of leagues below that, similar to how baseball is set up. However, at the end of the season, the bottom teams get relegated to the lower league. The top teams of the lower league get promoted. This makes for an exciting finish to every season as teams try to avoid relegation.

The secondary league could also play on another night. Say Tuesday and Wednesday nights, days that the NFL is not already dominating. Imagine football season with Sunday and Monday for the NFL primary league followed by Tuesday and Wednesday of the secondary league. Thursday night football stays (or goes away) and you leave Friday and Saturday for college football. The NFL could grab eyeballs five out of the seven days a week.

What I like about this idea is that it solves a lot of problems that a massive expansion brings. The expansion teams could form the secondary league. Or you could take the bottom teams in every division and have them start the secondary league and put some of the expansion teams in the primary league. However the NFL would decide to do it, creating a secondary league solves a lot of problems. The relegation and promotion creates more excitement at the end of the season and puts real stakes on matchups between bad teams.

I for one am excited about the possibility of NFL expansion. Yes it complicates things but a growing league means more competition which as a football fan I am all for. This will be something to watch closely in the coming years. If 2025 is the target year, we might be hearing about NFL expansion very soon.