NFL Regular Season Expansion: It's Just Business

It's easy to condemn Roger Goodell and owners for wanting to expand the NFL regular season to 18 games.

On the surface, it's a greedy and dangerous move that has generated strong opposition from the players who feel that the addition of two more regular season games would compromise their health.

And, on first thought, it's easy to sympathize with the players on this. After all, the current 16-game regular season, which has been in place since 1978, is plenty arduous.

By the end of 17 weeks, every player is nursing some type of injury. Adding two more games means two more weeks of wear and tear on already beaten, ailing bodies and more opportunities for new injuries occur. From a physical standpoint, the players have every right to oppose an expanded regular season.

But maybe, as both sports fans and people who have to work for a living, we should take a more black and white approach to this.

After all, as fans, we are constantly reminded of the fact that professional sports is a business, and we're seasoned by the players to think this way. It's why they hold out or sign elsewhere. It's about the bottom line for players, and they have every right to "get theirs."

Unfortunately for the players, though, they are not in charge.

As in all successful businesses, there is a clear chain of command in the NFL, and it's Commissioner Goodell and the owners who sit atop the food chain. They are in charge of the business that is the NFL, and like the players, they too are concerned with the bottom line.

So how can we really fault them for wanting to increase the revenue of their business by swapping two regular season games for two mindless preseason games?

From the business side of things, it just makes sense.

But no matter which side of the fence you're on—whether you think an 18-game schedule is barbaric or whether you recognize the profit benefits of expansion—the fact remains that the suits have the power in this situation.

Commissioner Goodell and the owners are the bosses in the highly profitable business that is the NFL, and like all bosses, they are in charge of telling their employees when they must work.

It's no different than your boss telling you that you have to work weekends or holidays. You either oblige, or you find a different place to work. It's that simple, and it applies to NFL players as well.

And it's not like the powers that be have to worry about fans not watching two more regular season games because they think it's cruel. It's the NFL. Fans will watch, and fans will enjoy two more games that mean something, all while looking past injuries.

After all, it's just business, man.