Today is the NFL Pro Bowl, and although in past years that may have been a big thing, times have changed. In recent seasons, what was once a fun game filled with big plays and having fun has become something viewers and players skip. Why is this?
NFL Insider Speaks on Massive Mistake the NFL Made With the Pro Bowl
As seen with the NBA’s All-Star Weekend, the NFL Pro Bowl has lost excitement over time. Both events were a nice break from the stress of the regular season or the playoffs, and the players involved took them as an honor. Although making the respective rosters is still considered an honor, the games have lost their draw.
NFL Insider Albert Breer believes he knows the reason why the Pro Bowl has lost so much interest recently and why something must change.
“The Pro Bowl looks like it’s on life support, with the NFL trying to pump life into it this week by putting it in the NFL Experience, and I think this is a result of the league trying too hard to turn everything into a revenue stream. When it was in Hawai‘i, it was a convention for the game’s stars and a reward for their families,” Breer wrote.
He added, “The stories of Peyton Manning holding court at the pool bar were legendary. The guys could go there, relax together, and be left (mostly) alone. Now? No such incentive for the players to participate exists. Which is why so many of them simply choose not to go.”
As Breer notes, the NFL Pro Bowl is no longer what it used to be. From 1979 to 2015, the host of nearly every single Pro Bowl was Aloha Stadium in Hawaii.
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This was always considered a fun vacation for the players, where they can be honored for their great season by making the roster, have fun with families and other players, play in a fun game where stress is removed, and the fans in Hawaii can attend a local NFL game.
Now, the Pro Bowl has moved away from Hawaii, and, as Breer lays out, it’s no longer about the players; it’s more catered to the fans.
Valuing fans is something any league should do, so creating more events isn’t a bad thing, but what has happened with the Pro Bowl has removed the vacation feeling for the players. After playing at least 17 games in a season, the players deserve a vacation.
