On Thursday, the NFL announced what I don’t think many people expected. Starting this year, the NFL will no longer hold a Pro Bowl game; instead, 88 players will be named Pro Bowlers at the end of each season, and it will be an individual performance honor, similar to being named an All-Pro.

The Pro Bowl game has been on its last legs for a while now, and with fans and players losing interest, there was no reason to continue. The decision makes the NFL the first major American sports league to cancel its all-star event.

But was this the right decision? That’s the big question.

Why Did the NFL Cancel the Pro Bowl?

As I mentioned earlier, the Pro Bowl has been dying for a long time. Ever since they left Hawai’i and started traveling the contiguous United States, hosting the event in places such as Orlando and Las Vegas, the event has lost its luster.

“It’s OK to be the first league to walk away from a competitive all-star game,” NFL executive vice president Peter O’Reilly said after the news was announced.

Now, instead of hosting a skills competition or game for the Pro Bowl, the 88 players who are selected each year will be invited to a celebration in Los Angeles during the week between the conference championships and the Super Bowl. It’s unclear what that will look like, but there will still be some sort of “event” that week. We’ll see how many players actually decide to show up, though.

NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations, Troy Vincent, said the decision came after speaking with players around the league. They still see the value in being named a Pro Bowler, but they were not interested in playing competitive football after the playoffs.

The Pro Bowl is gone, and honestly, it’s the NFL’s fault.

The Downfall of the Pro Bowl

In my opinion, the decision that ultimately killed the Pro Bowl was moving it out of Hawai’i. Ever since the league moved the games to Orlando and Las Vegas, player participation has declined drastically, which has led to another issue we’ll get to shortly.

When the Pro Bowl was in Hawai’i, it gave players an incentive to participate. When the long season is over, everyone just wants to kick back, relax, and go on vacation. For some players, that’s as early as January and February, so why would they choose to go to Orlando for five days during the Pro Bowl when they can afford to vacation anywhere else in the world?

When the games were in Hawai’i, that wasn’t an issue. Players could go there and relax like they were on vacation while still taking part in the games. Plus, it was a destination for fans to visit, which resulted in the game being sold out nearly every year.

Another big issue with the Pro Bowl is that it became a bit of a joke. Part of that was due to the fans, because they’d vote for their favorite players instead of the best players, but a large part of that was due to participation. With players opting out left and right, a boatload of alternates would get in, which caused us to see guys like Shedeur Sanders and Tyler Huntley earn the title of a Pro Bowler. If the games were still in Hawai’i, I guarantee you there wouldn’t be nearly as many opt-outs as we saw in the past five years.

You can argue that taking away tackle football and replacing it with the skills competition and a flag football game played a factor, but that was always going to happen, even if the Pro Bowl stayed in Hawai’i. There’s no reason for these guys to put their bodies on the line for a meaningless game, so while it sucked, it was inevitable.

I truly think taking the game out of Hawai’i is what killed the Pro Bowl. If it was still there, even with the skills competition and flag football taking over, I think it would be a popular event.

Was it the Right Decision?

Had the NFL never moved the Pro Bowl out of Hawai’i, I think canceling the event would’ve never been on the table. But given the state of the Pro Bowl in recent years, I think it was absolutely the smart thing to do.

To put it bluntly, the Pro Bowl has sucked for years. As someone who used to love the Pro Bowl growing up, the only reason I watched it in recent years was that I had to for work. And trust me, it wasn’t a good time.

But to be honest, the NFL wouldn’t have canceled it if the event was still lucrative. All they care about is bringing in money, and with viewership dropping drastically over the past five years, they decided to pull the plug before they started losing money on the event.

If people don’t watch, the NFL can’t make money off the Pro Bowl. Viewership is king in the NFL, and if they can’t sell ads, they can’t afford to put on the event.

Watching the decline of the Pro Bowl over the past 5-10 years has been sad, but the decision to cancel the event entirely was the correct one.