Report: NFL Owners to Discuss Expanding Season to 17 Games in Wednesday Meeting

NFL owners will hold a virtual meeting Wednesday, with an expanded regular season among the topics to be discussed, according to NFL Network's Judy Battista. 

Battista reported that a formal vote on adding a 17th game isn't a guarantee, but it's an option included in the most recent collective bargaining agreement: 

The MMQB's Albert Breer wrote in February that a possible 17th game was a sticking point for both sides in CBA negotiations. Owners were pushing for it, while the players were less enthused about the idea:

"It’s been clear from the start that players are leery about the idea of extending their season—creating another set of car crashes in a system that already called for 16 of them. And a lot of them knew that the owners’ strong desire to do that, in addition to their concern over further delaying the broadcast negotiation, created leverage.

"So some players wanted the union to push for more, in just about every category."

Once the NFL Players Association approved the CBA by a slim 60-vote margin, regular-season expansion probably became inevitable.

One line of thinking is that the COVID-19 pandemic may have accelerated the timeline. In November, The Athletic's Bill Shea pointed to one study that projected the NFL could be staring at a $2.7 billion deficit.

Assuming more fans will be permitted to return in 2021, adding another game to the calendar will mean more revenue coming into the league through ticket sales and selling media rights. That wouldn't fully make up for the money lost due to completely empty or sparsely populated stadiums in 2020, but it would help cover the shortfall.

However, Sports Business Daily's Ben Fischer reported expansion is actually "far less certain" than it was prior to the pandemic taking hold (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk).

Even if owners don't vote on a 17th game, the meeting should provide some idea as to whether the 2021 season will extend for an extra week.