Pro Bowl moves to Miami....

[remdog]

...and, even more interestingly, will be played before the Super Bowl.


AP Source: 2010 Pro Bowl Will Be in Miami
Dec 29, 5:24 PM (ET) Email this Story

By TIM REYNOLDS
MIAMI (AP) -The Pro Bowl will be played one week before the Super Bowl in 2010 and both games will be staged in Dolphin Stadium, a person directly involved in the decision told The Associated Press on Monday.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the NFL has not announced the move.

It's not a new notion to have the game moved up to take place between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl. The NFL has discussed it multiple times in recent years, and commissioner Roger Goodell told the AP last month that having the game precede the Super Bowl would avoid a "somewhat anticlimactic" ending to the season.

The Pro Bowl has been held in Honolulu since 1980, and it's probable that the game will return to Hawaii after 2010, although not on the permanent basis as has been the case over the last three decades.

It won't be South Florida's first Pro Bowl: the 1975 game took place in Miami's Orange Bowl, during a period when the site rotated annually.


Barring a schedule change, next season's Pro Bowl will take place Jan. 31, 2010, with the Super Bowl that year on Feb. 7. The league's plan is for players on the AFC and NFC championship squads not to take part in the Pro Bowl.

Miami was awarded the 2010 Super Bowl three years ago, a record 10th time the game will come to the Dolphins' home city. The notion of adding the Pro Bowl to the lineup in South Florida was first discussed several months ago. It's not clear when the final decision was made to move the game.

Hawaii tourism officials have lobbied in recent months to extend the game's current contract, which expires after this season's Pro Bowl, pointing to the fact that it's been sold out every year since moving to Honolulu and generates about $30.5 million in visitor spending and tax revenues.

And earlier this year, Hawaii's state government released $11 million for lighting and roofing improvements at Aloha Stadium, part of ongoing upgrades designed to refurbish and modernize the aging stadium. State officials have also considered demolishing the facility and building a new stadium.

Rem

[Danny Serafini]

Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. I realize the Pro Bowl isn't exactly scintillating as it is, but something tells me removing a whole bunch of top players isn't the best way to get it back on track.

Let's say for the sake of argument the seeds hold and it's 1 vs. 2 in both conference championships. Looking at this year's Pro Bowl rosters, there would be 19 players not able to play in this year's game under those rules, which means they'll be replaced by 19 weaker and presumably less interesting players. Great way to pump up your product.

[remdog]

Possibly, the thinking is that by offering two games back to back in the same city fans will arrive earlier and spend more money overall.

I don't necessarily think that's true but it's what popped into my head.

Rem

[improbus]

I think the Pro Bowl is closer and closer to becoming defunct, which is fine. Football isn't like baseball and basketball where you can play the game with very little concern of injuries. In general, I think All-Star games have lost their purpose, which was to showcase the best players on teams you never got to see, but now with 500 sports channels and shows, we really don't need the games.

[westofyou]

The Pro Bowl is going to end up like the The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game eventually.

[Blimpie]

Fourteen members of the gutless, dysfunctional, selfish Dallas Cowboys made the Pro Bowl this year. That should be all that one needs to know about the NFL Pro Bowl.

[RedsBaron]

Selecting All-Pro teams is fine. Playing a Pro Bowl game is a waste of time.

[guttle11]

"How can we make the Pro Bowl less relevant?"

On the plus side, I guess, some players will be less likely to bail on it, seeing as how they all congragate around the SB media machine anyway.

[RBA]

I went to a Pro-Bowl Game once. It's nothing special and I will probably never go to another one again. I don't even watch that game on tv anymore.