NFL moves its Pro Bowl festivities to Super Bowl week

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NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL is moving its Pro Bowl festivities to Super Bowl week beginning this February, the latest adjustment for the all-star event that became a flag football game a few years ago.

Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the change Wednesday at the league’s annual fall owners meeting.

“We’ve spent a lot of time evolving our Pro Bowl, talking about how to make our Pro Bowl more attractive, both for our players participating but also our fans,” Goodell said. “We spent a great deal of time talking about the objectives, and the objectives really are to celebrate and honor our incredible players, and second is to use our game as a global platform.”

The plan is to hold the Pro Bowl Games on Tuesday night, Feb. 3, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, the venue that is hosting the Super Bowl experience fan fest. The largest ballroom holds 4,000 people, making it a more intimate event than in previous years, with a focus on television.

It remains a flag football game between the AFC and NFC — a format that began in the winter of 2023 — though executive VP of international events Peter O’Reilly did acknowledge the Pro Bowl could become more internationally focused in the leadup to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

“Flag has become a global game,” Goodell said. “Our players have embraced playing that in the all-star format, and we think it’s really important to continue that initiative.”

NFL owners unanimously approved players participating in the '28 Games, though work is still being done to finalize the agreement with the union.

The 49ers are hosting the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 8, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. It returns to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood outside LA in 2027 and is set to take place at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta in 2028.

Beginning in '26, there will be two new coaches, replacing Peyton and Eli Manning, though O'Reilly said the brothers would remain involved in the event in some capacity. The league is not committing to Tuesday night beyond next year, according to O'Reilly, who said it's a process of continuing to learn about what's best for the Pro Bowl.

Goodell said the league met with 15-20 players for an hour over the summer to get their thoughts on the event that was branded as the Pro Bowl in 1951 and was played in LA before becoming a staple in Honolulu annually until 2012 and moving around since.

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