Bleacher Report Featured Article Posted February 02, 2019 10:37:31After being a long-time proponent of playoff games being played in stadiums, the NFL is making it harder than it was a few years ago to host the Super Bowl, according to a new report from ESPN.
The league will be playing games at a neutral site for the 2018-19 season, rather than at the Superdome, and will have to pay for the privilege.
In fact, the league’s “NFL Live” platform will require a $1 million security deposit for the first time in its history.
And even if teams like the New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs don’t make it into the playoffs, it’s unlikely they will be able to do so for the foreseeable future.
The NFL’s decision comes after months of speculation about the league and its playoff format, and while the league has yet to officially announce its plans, there have been some hints of its eventual stance.
During the Superbowl halftime show in January, Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters that the league is “not going to change the playoff format.”
“We’re going to keep playing games,” Goodell said.
And we’re not going to alter that.””
This is our platform.
And we’re not going to alter that.”
The NFL also took to Twitter in early February to offer some answers to questions about its playoff structure.
“The NFL Live experience is a great platform for fans, players, teams, advertisers and partners,” a league spokesman said.
“[But] we will not be changing the NFL Playoff structure, which is set by the Commissioner.
We look forward to hosting our third Super Bowl in New Orleans in 2021.”
There’s been a lot of chatter on social media about the possibility of the NFL moving to the regular season, but the league won’t be able move from the postseason until 2020.
That means the NFL will play games in its existing venues, which will require security deposits and would also require teams to pay the league $1,000 a game.
That is expected to cost the league about $30 million in the next three years.