At this point, a date for Super Bowl LXII, which will conclude the NFL’s 2027 season, has not been announced.
According to one league insider, that likely isn’t a coincidence.
Citing a source with knowledge of the situation, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported on Monday that the lack of a known Super Bowl LXII date is “tied directly to the possibility of the season expanding for the 2027 season.” Per Florio, a Feb. 20, 2028, date would indicate that the league expects to expand its schedule in time for the 2027 season, while a Feb. 13 date would likely mean the NFL staying at 17 regular-season games for at least the next two years.
Ever since the league first expanded to 17 games ahead of the 2021 season, many have considered an 18th game to be inevitable. Addressing the topic during his pre-Super Bowl press conference last week, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell insisted that it’s not a certainty that the league will add another regular-season game. But while it may be the league’s preference, any such move also would require buy-in from the NFLPA, which has been less enthusiastic about the prospect of adding an 18th game.
“The 18th game is not casual for us,” NFLPA interim executive director David White said during a press conference last week, per Florio. “It’s a very serious issue. It’s something that comes out of negotiations and nothing will move forward until players have the opportunity to account for all of those factors — take that into consideration and then, through negotiations, agree or not to the 18th game. But, as it stands right now, players have been very clear that they have no appetite for it.”
Yet despite the public posturing from both sides, the expectation remains that the NFL will ultimately be successful in its push to add an 18th regular-season game. And perhaps the biggest clue regarding when that will happen could come in the form of when Super Bowl LXII lands once its date is officially announced.