The kickoff of the 2021 NFL season will have a special meaning. After a 2020 overshadowed by the pandemic, the league is betting big. Not only because he expanded his game schedule to 17 per team, but because he intends to do it with full stands.
Strengthened by the renegotiation of the broadcasting rights contracts that will earn it some 10 billion dollars a year, the NFL will not only give its fans another week of action, but will also host Super Bowl LVI in no less than the building. world’s expensive: SoFi Stadium.
“This is a monumental moment for the NFL,” commissioner Roger Goodell defined it when, on March 30, he announced that the role of games will grow.
It is still paradoxical that the optimism of the commissioner and the teams occurs despite the fact that the United States remains the country with the most deaths from COVID-19 worldwide.
The league was not exempt from the controversy generated by the measures approved by the teams and the players’ union in the search for the best possible conditions.
Thus, during the days before the start of the campaign, the NFL already had 93 percent of vaccinated players, despite the open reluctance of a sector of players who expressed their annoyance at the “authoritarian” attitude of the league.
NEW YEAR NEW LIFE
What also divided opinions was the decision to extend the calendar to 17 games.
For fans it means having more regular season games, while for the league it means more revenue, in exchange for increased health risks for players.
Another novelty for this season was the return of the games played in Europe (London specifically), although Mexico was again left out.
In sports, the champions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers will seek to endorse the title from the hand of legendary veteran quarterback Tom Brady.
The Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers look like the strongest teams chasing a ticket to the Super Bowl, which will take place on February 13 in Los Angeles, California at SoFi Stadium.
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