The National Football League All-Star Game, now known as the Pro Bowl Games, has been a longstanding tradition and an annual occurrence since 1939. However, it has been subject to numerous controversies, most of them in regards to the perceived low quality of game-play and it resulting in decreased interest among fans and players alike. While there have been attempts at addressing the Pro Bowl’s various issues, recent changes and events have done nothing to increase the Pro Bowl’s status.
The crux of it is this; the Pro Bowl is still a complete failure. It has had a long history of being perceived as irrelevant, but the ratings have only continued to plummet in the past few years. Many fans have blamed NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and other NFL executives for their incompetent decisions. The organization’s choice to change the format to the Pro Bowl Games and switch play-style to flag football has met massive negative reception for boring quality. Additionally, the decision to move the date of the Pro Bowl Games to before the Super Bowl, causing some of the top players to miss the chance to even play in the games, has outraged fans. Despite Goodell’s constant promises to change things for the better, fans have only been met with disappointment after disappointment.
The problem actually lies in the players themselves; in contrast to other sports like the MLB, NFL players do not view the Pro Bowl Games with honor or reverence. Players have let it become known to the public how much disdain they hold for the games, with some athletes even stating they would rather go on vacation or play Paddle Ball with their buddies in the Bahamas. Although there is the argument that NFL games hold a lot higher risk for injury than events like the MLB All-Star games, it’s not enough to explain the players’ resistance to actively wanting to play in the Pro Bowl Games. After all, they risk injury in every regular season game they play in; essentially, money is not the solution to fixing the games. No amount of bags packed full with cash could probably convince a player to hold the games in a more optimistic view.
Hence, the true root of the problem is in regards to the culture of American football as a whole. NFl players hold no respect at all for the Pro Bowl Games, and do not believe the games are worth the time, money, or risk to participate in. As the deeper cultural perception among football athletes keeps straying the wrong way, fans also begin to lose interest. In a game where there is no incentive at all for the player to participate, there is also no incentive for the fans to eagerly tune in at home. The Pro Bowl Games have essentially been reduced to an event of zero competitive relevance. Nobody has cared about the Pro Bowl for decades, and recent attempts at gathering public attention back to the event have failed abysmally. If the NFL wishes for the Pro Bowl Games to be an event that will help grow their popularity and interest among fans, they must make changes, and fast. Because at this rate, the Pro Bowl Games will only serve as an embarrassing stain on the pages of American football history.
