When people talk about the current commissioners of professional sports leagues, most of the attention is usually focused around either Bug Selig or David Stern. After all, the commissioners of MLB and the NBA have brought the most significant changes to their sports during their reigns - Selig has helped develop the Wild Card, the link between the All Star Game and home field advantage in the World Series, and the World Baseball Classic, while Stern has brought the NBA to China, commercialized All Star Saturday Night, and most recently navigated the league through yet another lockout. People don't talk much about the NFL's Roger Goodell, though. Other than occassionally causing a stir by fining or suspending someone, Goodell for the most part lets the NFL do what it does best - attract fans and make money - and I think he deserves more credit than he typically gets.
Today, for example, ESPN.com reported that Goodell has been dissatisfied with recent iterations of the NFL Pro Bowl, and was quoted as saying "We're either going to have to improve the quality of what we're doing in the Pro Bowl or consider other changes or even considering eliminating the game if that's the kind of quality game we're going to provide." While both Selig and Stern have made countless tweaks to their All Star Games over the years, virtually all of then have been made with a "bigger is always better" mindset. Both the MLB and NBA All Star breaks have swelled to the point where they actively distract fans from their regular seasons, and the quality of play in those games seems to diminish every year. The NBA All Star Game is an excuse for Derrick Rose to throw LeBron James a dozen alley-oops, while the MLB game usually comes down to Aramis Ramirez facing Joakim Soria in the late innings.
In the midst of all this All Star growth, we have Goodell suggesting that the NFL's Pro Bowl potentially be eliminated. And why not? After all, there's absolutely no need for the Pro Bowl: no one watches it, very few players want to be a part of it, and the NFL schedule doesn't make it easy to organize it. There's no reason the league couldn't just name its All Pros at the end of the season without actually holding a Pro Bowl game - let's give Goodell credit for recognizing and acknowledging this fact and (potentially) doing something about it. Goodell seems secure enough with the NFL's incredible success and domination of the American sports scene that he's comfortable admitting when something isn't working. To me, it's another example of the NFL and Goodell's power over American sports.
While Bud Selig seeks additional playoff expansion to spice up the MLB postseason and David Stern continues to explore international franchises to further globalize the NBA, Roger Goodell and the NFL have minimized the changes to professional football. There are many reasons why millions of people will be watching the Superbowl this afternoon while baseball and basketball struggle to build viewership for the World Series and NBA Finals, respectively. Let's give Goodell some credit here and acknowledge that he's done a lot of good since he took the NFL's head position in 2006. While Selig and Stern may grab more headlines, Goodell is usually the one grabbing the dollars and the fans.
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