18 game schedule coming...What would you like to see the new format be?

[GusFrerotte]

I think the owners are just trying to get back their money from their bad investments such as the unneeded new stadiums, etc. Ford Field is gorgeous, but there really wasn't a dire need to even build it. I know they only leased the Silverdome, but it held a lot more people and most of the paying fans were from Oakland Co anyway. The facility was already rather modern, etc. Did Dallas really need a new stadium with the largest HD jumbotron? Now, the state and local govts coughed up a pretty penny to chip in for these modern marvels, but the owners put up a ton of $$$$$$$$$ themselves, and these investments really haven't paid off. They need to do what any other corporation has done and that is to cut costs, but they have themselves become almost "too big to fail". Take the NFL Network for instance. Sure it is cool to have your own network, but why even bother since you have 3 major media outlets paying YOU to show your product on TV? THe costs to run a 24/7 network has to be staggering, and any advertising might cover that cost, but the profits can't be that great. In short, what I am saying is the NFL just has gotten to big for itself, too big to sustain this type of spending, and it is coming up with harebrained schemes to get back into the black. THe NFL in the summer of '07 or '08 asked the US Govt for a billion dollar bailout to cover operating expenses, and with these stadiums, it is already partially subsidized by state and local govts. Time for the NFL to trim the fat.