The NFL has been telling everyone for several years now that an 18-game season is coming. However, players have long advocated against it, the issue also being raised by the NFL Players Association. At long last, there is a victory.

“JC Tretter wins first round of looming CBA fight with the NFL by kicking the inevitable 18-game season beyond 2027,” Pro Football Talk posted on X.

The Super Bowl LXII will be held on February 13, 2028, Adam Schefter reported. That means there won’t be an 18-game season until this date. According to PFT’s Mike Florio, JC Tretter’s ascension as the NFLPA’s executive director after Lloyd Howell’s exit kept the organization busy from engaging in talks with the NFL.

“Frankly, there’s a good chance that the 18-game season would have happened in time for the 2027 season, if Lloyd Howell hadn’t resigned as the NFLPA executive director,” Florio wrote. “His exit and the turmoil that ensued made it impossible to engage in negotiations.

“With Tretter now in place, it would have been impossible to push an 18th game through so quickly. There will be player opposition to it.”

In February, NFLPA president and Bears linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin, along with then-interim director David White, both said they had no interest in negotiating anything early, until the current deal runs out in 2030.

Tretter, in an interview with The Athletic, spoke of his reluctance to the expansion, based on his own experience with one.

“So I understand what it felt like when I played 16 (games) and then moved to 17. I understand the toll that takes on the body that doesn’t take anybody to explain it to me. I understand the same thing with international. I played an international game. I understand the timeline and how tough it is to recover, how tough it is to turn around and get on the flight on the way back and then get ready for the next week.”

“The league’s at 17 games in the CBA; that is where we’re at, and we’re going to make sure we defend our players and their health and safety, because our guys feel they know what this feels like.”

All of it comes down to the money. The NFL makes about $23 billion a year, much of that turnover coming from pricey TV deals. More games means more content to sell to networks, which gives the league more power at the negotiating table. And that will mean more strain on the players, who’d have to show up for an extra game.

Goodell has been adamant about extending the international schedule too, which has nine games this season. It’s the biggest international lineup so far in the league’s history.

George Kittle, a big advocate for player safety, addressed the issue in May. According to the veteran, only after some key changes would players be inclined to cross out yet another date on their calendar for a game.

“Number one, you’ve got to have an extra bye, regardless,” Kittle told Baker Machado of Front Office Sports. “The season’s too long as it is. I think 16 games was perfect. They added an extra game for more TV stuff, which, hey, I get it. It makes everybody more money. If you’re going to add an 18th game, you’ve got to add an extra bye.”

For now, the players won this round. The season stays at 17 games, and we finally have a date and venue for the Super Bowl LXII.

Atlanta to Host Super Bowl LXII in 2028

The Super Bowl LXII will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which last hosted the game in 2019, when the Patriots beat the Rams. With the 2028 booking, Atlanta will be stepping into the spotlight for the fourth time in Super Bowl history.

The city first hosted the Super Bowl in 1994, when the Cowboys took down the Bills at the Georgia Dome, then again in 2000 when the Rams beat the Titans, also at the Georgia Dome. Mercedes-Benz Stadium took over hosting duties in 2019, and now it gets a second shot in 2028.

As always, expect the city to be packed. Hundreds of thousands of fans are expected to flood downtown Atlanta in the days before kickoff, filling up hotels, restaurants, and the areas around Centennial Olympic Park and the World Congress Center.