Los Angeles (AFP)
Each team in the American football championship will play the next regular season 17 games against 16 so far, the North American League (NFL) announced Tuesday.
In addition to the 17 league fixtures, each team will play three regular preseason games for the first time, which is a change for a competition whose schedule has not been changed since 1978.
This expected decision follows the agreements reached on March 18 on television rights and streaming, for a record amount estimated at more than 100 billion dollars over eleven seasons.
In particular, a prize was awarded to Amazon Prime Video for the broadcast of the traditional Thursday night game.
"This is a monumental moment in the history of the NFL. The agreements reached on these rights and those on the collective agreement with the players will allow us to improve the quality of the NFL experience for our fans", is congratulated the boss of the league Roger Goodell.
And to add that "one of the advantages of the passage to 17 matches per team will be (for the league) the possibility of continuing to develop our sport throughout the world".
At the end of this next regular season (September 9-January 9) will begin the play-offs leading to the 56th edition of the Super Bowl, scheduled for February 13 in Los Angeles, at the brand new SoFi Stadium.
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