Dead the dog, the rage ended and that was just what appears to be the decision taken by the high command of the National Football League (NFL) by placing the last nail in the coffin of the famous Pro Bowl after seven decades and a half of life.
The decision came motivated by a few weeks after the ovoide rolled in the regular campaign for a crude commercial reality that points to the null interest of the fans in tuning the match and the apathy of the superstars themselves for putting their helmets in a game where no one wanted to risk the physical.
The NFL has eliminated the Pro Bowl games, per a league official. The focus now will shift to celebrating the honor of being a Pro-Bowl selection. pic.twitter.com/YLgdqQXwbf
This year’s campaign, which has its scheduled start for Wednesday, September 9, will mark a historic milestone by becoming the first time since the distant 1950s season in which the famous exhibition game disappears from the map.
Despite the tapestry to the game, the distinction will not die altogether, as the high command determined that individual awards will be retained to decorate the eighty-eight best athletes of the season.
The selection process will maintain its usual mysticism through the tripartite vote of the fans, the specialized press and the players themselves to define the forty-four members of each conference.
The difference is that the elected will no longer have to travel to participate in an intense duel and instead, they will simply receive commemorative patches to shine in their official uniforms alongside an exclusive line of merchandise that will serve as a consolation for the award winners.
The NFL has eliminated the Pro Bowl Games. There will be no more activities related to the Pro Bowl, only the mentions of the Players. It is the first professional league in the United States to eliminate the Star Game. pic.twitter.com/tPY72QeTDQ
The only major American league that decides to eat at a separate table
With this blow on the table, American football becomes the only organization of the so-called four major disciplines of American sport that remains without an annual game of stars in something that seemed to be a tradition that would never end and that could be modified and modernized, but never came to think of cutting off its existence.
While the Major League Soccer (MLS), National Basketball Association (NBA) and hockey league circuits spend a full weekend on their calendars to tap their fans with a titan shock, the NFL preferred to get off that boat before giving the initial blow.
The owner’s decision demonstrates that the partners’ business doesn’t try the heart when a product stops generating green notes at the billboards and on the television audience levels. The event had gone from being an authentic party in Hawaii to becoming a caffeinated format of skills that ended up digging its own grave to the taste of the public.
The NFL will be eliminating the Pro Bowl games, instead celebrating the honor of players being selected as Pro Bowlers, by @AdamSchefter.Going forward, 88 players will still receive Pro Bowl honours. Since it is simply a designation, no alternates will be needed. The League ? pic.twitter.com/aURH7Dgg7G
A historic start in the middle of the week and with international destination
To calm the waters and compensate for the loss of their star game, the league has prepared a calendar that promises emotions from the first second. The kick-off will be unprecedented on Wednesday night, breaking with the old custom of Thursday night and giving the fanatic a re-edition of the past Super Bowl sixties that promises to scatter the screens of millions of homes.
If not enough, the internationalization of the tournament will reach never-before explored latitudes just twenty-four hours after the official start. On September 10, the Los Angeles Rams franchises and the San Francisco 49ers will see the faces in the city of Melbourne.
“Gee I wonder why they eliminated the Pro Bowl” pic.twitter.com/zAK1bfrmA4
A daring decision, but not blunt, in what will be the first official match of the regular season played in Australian territory, opening up a billionaire market that seeks to bury once and for all the nostalgia for the missing game of stars.
