NFL Expansion Not On Agenda

By Emari Traffie–2/3/2012
If the NFL expands, it will probably look west. But that could be in the very far future.
National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell would like to see expansion. However, there are no permanent plans, he said at a press conference today in Indianapolis.
“We have not talked about expansion in the league at all. It has not been on our agenda,” said Goodell. “It is not something we focused on with our membership and I don’t see that in the… foreseeable future.”
He said the NFL prefers expansion to relocation and wants to keep “teams where they are.” But, if the NFL does expand, he wouldn’t add just one team but two. Los Angeles is the only city that has been mentioned as a possible expansion site. At one point the St. Louis Rams, the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders all called the City of Angels home, but no team has survived there.
“We would like to be back in Los Angeles if we can do it correctly,” said Goodell. He believes there is a way to solidify the partnership with that city now that labor and television contracts have been managed.
He said one of the benefits of the 10-year Collective Bargaining Agreement was to have “ten years of stability and to be able to project down that path.” This could lead to growth in the league. Yesterday NFL owners approved a $200 million plan for a new stadium in San Francisco.
Despite his positive outlook on expansion, he said the league doesn’t even have this item on its March meeting agenda.
Goodell also spoke about expanding the number of games played in a season. Reporters asked why he would expand from 16 games a season to 18 since fans supposedly don’t even like the idea.
“I don’t know if I agree with that one,” he replied. “I talk to a lot of fans too.”
It’s up to the players whether or not to change the game schedule, according to Goodell. One thing was for sure though.
“We will be playing in London next year,” he said.