NEW ORLEANS — NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell came out strongly against an 18-game regular season, questioning at his annual Super Bowl press conference the effect adding another game to the schedule would have on player health and safety.

His position, which is different from the one he espoused at last year’s Super Bowl press conference when he said everyone likes more football, helps explain NFL commissioner Roger Goodell putting the brakes on adding an extra game. On Monday, the commissioner said schedule expansion negotiations would take place within collective bargaining agreement talks; the CBA expires in 2031.

“Right now, when I have talked to the players the last two seasons, no one wants to play an 18th game,” Howell said. “No one. Seventeen games is already, for many of the guys, too long. Seventeen games is also so lengthy that you’re still dealing with injuries going into the next season.”

NFLPA player president Jalen Reeves-Maybin said, “I don’t think anyone was really in favor of going 17 [in 2021]. I definitely think you feel it on your body. You feel the mental toll just going through the season. … Actually, I would say that guys were against 17, and I think the guys are against, I know the guys are against 18.”

NFLPA players in 2020 narrowly approved the new CBA, which included the 17th game starting in the 2021 season. And Howell’s predecessor, DeMaurice Smith, left his post three years after he shepherded the new CBA to slim approval.

Added NFLPA executive committee member Austin Ekeler, “Eighteen games makes me cringe. … the 18th game, personally speaking, not speaking for membership, is something that is really outrageous.”

The news conference comes as the NFLPA is in a period of transition, with the union seeking voluntary buyouts of a significant share of the staff. Howell talked about staff needing new skill sets, mentioning data analytics as one specialty.

Asked about the union’s seemingly sizable $1 billion in assets, Howell described the NFLPA’s financial condition as “adequate.”

“The changes that have been reported are really around talent, but it’s to make room for these high-demand, in-demand capabilities that we don’t currently have.”

Howell also called on the NFL to allow players to earn equity in franchises, which is not possible under a current league rule disallowing any team employee [not related to the owner] from receiving shares in the team. Smith brought this issue up occasionally at his Super Bowl press conference, but owners have been a firm no. NFL franchise valuations are soaring.

Howell also criticized the league’s expansion of its international schedule for affecting player health and safety and said the NFL can’t go beyond 10 international games a year without union permission. Goodell has said he would like to stage 16 international games a year.

“The fact is, there’s very little consistency across surfaces in the league, and the variability gets worse when you factor in soccer fields we’re playing on internationally,” Howell said.

NEW ORLEANS — The Chiefs may build a new training facility that could cost as much as $425 million, not counting a prospective surrounding commercial district, team president Mark Donovan said Wednesday. The venue’s location depends in part on the team’s stadium after its lease expires in 2031—in Missouri like its current home, Arrowhead Stadium, or across the state line in Kansas.

“It’s probably $250 to $450 [million] depending on what you’re going to do,” Donovan said. I mean, think about what Minnesota did, right? They built a brand-new training facility, and then they put … outside it a 5,000-seat stadium, like if you did that, that’s a different number than if you just built new facilities.”

Renovating Arrowhead would cost around $800 million, and new stadiums could be up to $2 billion or more. So the extra expense of the new training facility is not an insignificant add. It’s not clear how that cost will fit into the ultimate financial package the Chiefs arrange with local and state officials in Missouri, or if they relocate to Kansas.

If the team moves to Kansas, the training facility could be in either state, Donovan said. However, if the result is to put the venues together, then the new quarters would also relocate states.

As the Chiefs business grows—the team recently announced a new studio to produce football-themed entertainment—the need for more space is pressing. “We’re just out of space right now,” he said.

With the Chiefs in their fifth Super Bowl in six years, team owner Clark Hunt has taken a more public role this week—meeting with reporters, doing TV interviews, and attending Super Bowl Opening Night. That’s no accident; it’s part of a strategy to become a brand-name team.

Donovan pointed out that when the Cowboys play, the cameras inevitably show their owner Jerry Jones, who is the face of the team.

“Clark sees what Jerry’s doing, what Robert’s doing,” he said, referring to Patriots owner Robert Kraft. “The challenge for us is like, how do we do that? It starts with little things, like every single Cowboys game, they show Jerry Jones in his suite, right? So why aren’t they showing Clark? So that’s a conversation.”

NEW ORLEANS — Hours after NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell expressed deep concern about the effects of international play on player health and safety, the NFL—in the same room at the New Orleans convention center—announced its most audacious play since the league began playing overseas games in London in 2007.

The Rams will play an undetermined opponent in 2026 to start a multiyear NFL agreement to play games at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia. Melbourne is 16 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, compared to six in Germany, the widest time-zone gap currently on the international schedule.

Peter O’Reilly, NFL executive vice president of international and league events, with representatives from Australia on a stage with him, said the NFLPA had been consulted on the Down Under plans.

“We have spoken to the PA, and our priorities are their priorities,” O’Reilly said, “which is ensuring that the player experience around this and all of our games is first-class, is world-class. … So that’s a focus, and ensuring, frankly, that we’re working with players to really be ambassadors for our game in these markets, and that they’re really part of this journey of growing our game around the world.”

The NFLPA released the following statement to FOS: “We believe that a game in Australia, which will involve a minimum 15-hour flight before even stepping on the field, has significant implications for our players’ rest, recovery, and performance. The players are concerned that these have not been accounted for, and we look forward to hearing from the league how they plan to address these needs.”

Australia, where one of the more popular sports is Australian rules football, has served as a modest pipeline for players into the NFL, most notably Eagles tackle Jordan Mailata. Nine Australians are in the NFL International Player Pathway Program, a league initiative that develops foreign players.

The NFL did not say when in 2026 the game would occur, but O’Reilly said it is a good assumption that it would be the first week of the season to give the teams time to travel and acclimate.