National Football League

18-game NFL sked may end Hall matchup

Published Oct. 3, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

Alex Marvez

The NFL’s push for an expanded regular-season schedule could spell the end of a preseason tradition: the Pro Football Hall of Fame game.

FOXSports.com has learned there are no guarantees that the annual kickoff to the exhibition season will continue if the players union agrees to changes being pushed by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in labor negotiations. Goodell wants to reduce the preseason to two games and play 18 regular-season contests starting in 2012.

“There are many issues being evaluated for the proposed (18-game) season but no decisions have been made,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wrote in an email to FOXSports.com. “We are continuing to discuss with our players and clubs all relevant issues on the potential change in the season format.”

The NFL Players Association has raised concerns about the physical toll such restructuring will take upon its members. Even so, the format change seems inevitable as the NFL seeks to further grow the overall revenue that is split with the players union. The current collective bargaining agreement expires in March, which has led to the possibility of a work stoppage.

“We’re watching where all the discussions are going,” said Joe Horrigan, the Hall of Fame’s vice president of communication/exhibits. “It’s something we don’t have an answer to. We have indicated, as we do every year, how much we appreciate having the game. It’s a good thing for the Hall of Fame, but we understand things are changing and that we’re at risk with a two-game preseason.”

The Hall of Fame game currently serves as a fifth preseason game featuring at least one team with ties to a player, coach or owner being enshrined. The contest caps nine days of Hall festivities in Canton, Ohio.

The NFL could try incorporating the Hall of Fame game as part of its opening preseason weekend for the entire league. But that would require one franchise to surrender a preseason home game and the revenue it generates.

Losing the Hall game would be a significant blow to an economically depressed area. Hall festivities generate roughly $27 million and 300 jobs for the local economy, according to a 2005 study sponsored by Canton officials.

“That doesn’t take into account money that the locals spend and put back into the economy,” Horrigan said. “Hall of Fame weekend has a broader impact on the state of Ohio as well.”

The first Hall of Fame game was played in 1962 -- one year before the Hall itself opened. It has been held every year since except for 1966. Cincinnati and Dallas met in this year’s contest, one day after ex-Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith was enshrined in the Hall.

While not confirmed, the NFL is expected to book a Hall of Fame matchup for 2011 with the league again playing a 16-game regular-season schedule.

"The Hall of Fame game is special because it is part of a great weekend for our former players and commemorates the start of a new season,” NFLPA spokesman Carl Francis told FOXSports.com in an email. “This idea is part of the overall discussion on a new game schedule for our players.”