18

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is using the high profile of Super Bowl week to keep promoting the idea of expanding the NFL season to 18 games. This time, he's basing his argument on the will of the people:

We started this with the fans. The fans have clearly stated that they don’t like the preseason. We have a 20-game format, 16 regular season games and four preseason games, and the fans have repeatedly said the preseason games don’t meet NFL standards. And that is the basis on which we started this 18-game concept, taking two low-quality preseason games and turning them into two high-quality regular season games.

No, no, no. Nice try, Roger. Here's who favors an 18-game season: team owners. That's about it. Players hate it, and fans are, according to an msnbc.com story, "lukewarm at best." The 18-game season is a way to increase revenues for owners, nothing more.

Frankly, I'm a bit annoyed by Goodell hiding behind the fans like this. He's being completely disingenuous - he knows as well as anyone that fans don't really like the 18-game season - and constructing illogical arguments like the one above. Watch what he does:

We started this with the fans. The fans have clearly stated that they don’t like the preseason.
This is true. No one like the preseason, except maybe the owners who force season-ticket holders to pay regular-season prices for these boring games. The best solution to this particular issue is to charge lower prices for lower-quality games, but somehow I don't see that happening.

We have a 20-game format, 16 regular season games and four preseason games, and the fans have repeatedly said the preseason games don’t meet NFL standards.
Again, we all agree that they don't.

And that is the basis on which we started this 18-game concept,
And now you've cheated. There are any number of ways to solve the problem of charging fans full price for these crappy games - lower the preseason ticket prices, eliminate two of the games altogether, etc. The basis on which you started this 18-game concept was to try to make more money for the owners with no regard for fans or players.

taking two low-quality preseason games and turning them into two high-quality regular season games.
Diluting the regular season, messing up all the record books, and increasing the already-high injury count. Stop pretending that this is the only avenue to escape football's lousy preseason.