On Tuesday, NFL homeowners accredited the vote to formally develop common season video games from 16 to 17 starting this season.
The 17-game season was a part of the brand new collective bargaining settlement between the NFL and the NFL Gamers Affiliation, which was ratified final March. The incorporation of the extra sport comes precisely 44 years to the date of when the NFL adopted the 16-game schedule from the beforehand organized 14 video games in 1977.
The season will now include 272 video games (from 256), with every of the league’s 32 groups taking part in 17 video games throughout an 18-week interval with a typical Bye week. Given the growth of the common season, Tremendous Bowl LVI will now be pushed one week later, from Feb. 6 to Feb. 13, 2022.
Moreover, with the added seventeenth sport, the usual four-game preseason has been decreased to a few video games.
Of notice, the league is trying to take this new stock of video games internationally sooner or later as effectively. All 32 groups will play internationally not less than as soon as in an eight-year interval starting in 2022.
“This can be a monumental second in NFL historical past,” mentioned NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. “The CBA with the gamers and the lately accomplished media agreements present the muse for us to boost the standard of the NFL expertise for our followers. And one of many advantages of every group taking part in 17 regular-season video games is the flexibility for us to proceed to develop our sport all over the world.”
So, what does this imply for the 49ers? With the addition of the seventeenth sport, the 49ers will now add a highway sport towards the Cincinnati Bengals onto their slate of standard season matchups in 2021.
In keeping with the league’s components, the seventeenth sport can be between two inter-conference groups who performed each other two seasons prior and completed in the identical spot in their very own division the yr prior.
This yr, AFC groups had been awarded the additional house sport. House video games will rotate conferences every season.
Along with San Francisco’s divisional opponents (Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks), the 49ers may also face the NFC North and AFC South in 2021. The 49ers may also see the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles, as each groups additionally completed final of their respective divisions final season. Click here to see a full breakdown of the 49ers 2021 opponents.
The official 2021 schedule, with taking part in dates and instances, can be introduced later this spring on NFL Community, NFL.com and 49ers.com.
