2010 Pro-Bowl, Miami Florida

The Pros and Cons of NFL Pro Bowl Changes

By now, if you're a true football fan, you've undoubtedly heard of the changes being made for the 2010 Pro Bowl.  Put succinctly, the game, which has been played in Hawaii for as long as many fans can remember, will be played this year in Miami instead (although there are rumors  that the NFL is in talks to return the game to the Islands in 2011).  The second change is that it will be played just days BEFORE the Super Bowl, instead of after it, as has traditionally been the case.

Good ideas or bad?  It depends on your perspective.  Here are some of the good and bad points with these two moves:

PRO:  The changes certainly have people talking about the game, more so than in any recent year.  This alone might cause more people to tune into the game on TV or radio.

CON:  It also has players talking about the move, and much of the talk is not positive.  Hey, who really likes change when it affects you?

PRO:  The game will be accessible for more people to attend.  It's a lot easier to get to Florida than Hawaii (You can't exactly drive to Honolulu).

CON:  Any time you make an NFL game easier to attend, that logically makes tickets harder to come by at a good price (although as of now, FrontRow.com still offers an excellent seat selection).

PRO:  In the past, the Pro Bowl has seemed anti-climactic al.  The Super Bowl, after all, ends the season in most fans' minds, and so the Pro Bowl is almost like an after-thought.  Putting the game before the Super Bowl might help correct this.

CON:  Putting it before the Super Bowl also means that players who are in that championship game will likely decline the invitation to play in the Pro Bowl and risk injury.

PRO:  What red-blooded American male couldn't use an excuse to watch more game?

CON:  What red-blooded American wife of the male will appreciate that?

So which arguments sway you?  Do you approve of the changes, disapprove, or couldn't care less?

The idea of scheduling the Pro Bowl to take place before the Super Bowl but after the conference championships is not new.  The league has actually talked about it several times in the past few years--and as stated above, one of the chief reasons is to avoid the perception that the game is anticlimactic.

Involved in the discussion about changing the date and location were NFL club owners, the NFL Player Advisory Council and the NFL Players Association, as well as certain players themselves.  The NFL says that the plan met with widespread support across the board.