NEW YORK — The NFL is moving its Pro Bowl festivities to Super Bowl week beginning next February, the latest adjustment for the all-star event that became anchored by a flag football game a few years ago.
Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the change Wednesday at the league’s annual fall owners meeting.
“We’ve spent a lot of time evolving our Pro Bowl, talking about how to make our Pro Bowl more attractive, both for our players participating but also our fans,” Goodell said. “We spent a great deal of time talking about the objectives, and the objectives really are to celebrate and honor our incredible players, and second is to use our game as a global platform.”
The plan is to hold the Pro Bowl Games on Tuesday night, Feb. 3, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, the venue that is hosting the Super Bowl Experience fan festival. The largest ballroom holds 4,000 people, making it a more intimate event than in previous years, with a focus on television.
It remains a flag football game between the AFC and NFC — a format that began in the winter of 2023 — though executive VP of international events Peter O’Reilly did acknowledge the Pro Bowl could become more internationally focused in the leadup to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.