The NFL could open the 2018 season on a Tuesday or Wednesday in China, with its traditional Thursday night season-opening game following later that same week, according to the league’s top international executive planning the proposed game.
Intent on staging a game in China despite the logistical difficulties, the league also is considering forgoing the traditional bye it offers clubs following overseas games, knowing the teams playing in China would have 10 or 11 days between their opening and second-week games.
The league “could schedule the game in a way that it doesn’t have to get played in a window that already exists,” said Mark Waller, NFL executive vice president of international. “We’ve got two years, so if there was a scheduling change we wanted to make as a one-off, we have the opportunity to do that and we have the time to discuss that with our owners and our broadcast partners.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell disclosed in March his intent to play a regular-season game in China in 2018, though some owners have expressed concerns over logistics. At the May owners meeting, the hope was to have a proposal for the game for owners to vote on by October. Waller said that appears unlikely now.
Part of the reason is the scheduling, but a league source noted that there are other areas to work out, including getting a China-based broadcaster to partner with one of the league’s broadcasters. Only a China-based broadcaster would have the permission of the Chinese government to broadcast from the country.
Asked whether not having the proposal ready for an October vote meant the game could get pushed back past 2018, Waller said there would still be plenty of time to get the idea before owners in time to prepare for such a contest.
The Los Angeles Rams have been designated as one of the teams that would play in the game. The other team has not been officially identified.
The China game is part of the NFL’s aggressive international plan. This year, the league is playing three regular-season games in London and one in Mexico, and it is committed to increasing the number of games in London in future years. But the China game, because of the time difference (12 hours ahead of New York) and the cultural barriers — the game is not well-known there — makes it perhaps the boldest of the league’s global plans.
Much is still in play for the proposed game, including which city would host, Waller said. The league also is still considering the traditional London-game option of giving the participating teams a bye week after the game, he said.
