NFL owners pass new hybrid kickoff rule
The NFL is following through on its desire to jumpstart the kickoff.
Owners approved the hybrid kickoff rule on Tuesday during the Annual League Meeting, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported, per sources informed of the decision. The vote passed 29-3, NFL Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay told reporters.
The move will dramatically alter the look and feel of the kickoff, a play that had become an afterthought as safety rules essentially wiped out incentives for a return.
The passed kickoff rule features new alignments for both the kicking and receiving units. A "landing zone," the area between the receiving team's goal line and its 20-yard line, would prompt action off the kickoff if the ball were to land in that sector.
Kickoffs will remain at the 35-yard line, but the remaining 10 players on the kicking unit will line up at the opposing team's 40-yard line. The receiving team lines up with at least seven players in the "set-up zone," a five-yard area between their own 35- and 30-yard lines, with a maximum of two returners can line up in the landing zone.
After the ball is kicked, the kicker cannot cross the 50-yard line and the 10 kicking team players cannot move until the ball hits the ground or a player in the landing zone or goes into the end zone. The receiving team's players in the set-up zone also cannot move until the kick has hit the ground or a player in the landing zone or the end zone. The returner(s) may move at any time before or during the kickoff.
Penalties on scoring plays also will not carry over and will be taken on the point after attempt. On any penalty that carries over to kickoffs, the set-up and landing zones will not change, nor will the alignment of the 10 kickoff team players and all the receiving team players -- only the kicker's positioning move.
Kickoff scenarios:
Kickoffs that hit the landing zone must be returned.
Kickoffs that hit the landing zone and then go into the end zone must be returned or downed by the receiving team. If downed, the receiving team would get the ball at its own 20-yard line.
Kickoffs that go into the end zone and stay inbounds that are downed would give the receiving team the ball at their own 30-yard line. Kickoffs that go out of the back of the end zone (in the air or bounces) would also be a touchback at the receiving team's 30-yard line.
Kickoffs short of the landing zone would be treated like a kickoff out of bounds, and the receiving team would get the ball at its own 40-yard line.
The legislation also will lead to a tweak in onside kicks, which can only occur in the fourth quarter and onward when a team trails. The kicking team must declare its intent to onside kick.
The new rule is in place only for 2024 and is subject to renewal in 2025. As the NFL did with the pass interference review rule a few years back, if things go awry or don't have the desired consequences, the league can go back to the drawing board.
NFL to play two games on Christmas, a Wednesday, during 2024 season
The NFL is embracing midweek holiday spirit in 2024.
The league will hold two games on Christmas -- a Wednesday -- this season, Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution, announced at the Annual League Meeting on Tuesday.
"From what we've seen the last couple years is really some unprecedent growth, and not just on Christmas, on Thanksgiving, too," Schroeder explained Tuesday. "The last couple of years have had the highest-regular season game ever viewed in the regular season. That mindset, that opportunity, that belief we have that football brings people together -- that's even truer on these big holidays that happen throughout the year.
"When we saw the viewership from this past year, really our fans spoke. We certainly saw and believe that they are very much enjoying and wanting NFL football on Christmas. So what we're going to do is we're going to play a couple of games, like we've typically played for well over a decade, probably more than that, on Saturday of Week 16, and then come back and play a couple of games on Christmas Day on Wednesday."
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he didn't anticipate player health concerns being an issue with teams playing Christmas games on a short week.
"Well, I think the days are the same for us. We've done this," Goodell explained. "In fact, COVID was a learning opportunity, I think it was the first time we played on a Wednesday. It will not be a regular thing. It will be when Christmas falls on a Wednesday. But the time period between games has been done before. We have not seen any elevation of injuries. You all, and we, have had a major focus on Thursday night when we first put it in, and we've still not seen any kind of elevation of injuries. So I think we have this down."
The 2023 season featured three games on Christmas Day, which kicked off with the Raiders' shocking upset win over the Chiefs in Kansas City, and included a surprisingly close finish between the Giants and Eagles. Both games led up to a highly anticipated clash between elites in Santa Clara, California, where the Ravens dominated the 49ers in front of a prime-time audience.
Last season's Christmas Day tripleheader drew historic ratings, with all three games ranking among the top five Christmas Day NFL games on record, dating back to 1988. The Raiders-Chiefs stunner averaged 29.6 million viewers, making it the second most-watched Christmas Day game in NFL history behind only Bengals-Vikings in 1989. Giants-Eagles averaged 29 million viewers, while Ravens-49ers averaged 27.6 million -- a number that likely would have been higher had Baltimore not taken a commanding 30-12 lead early in the third quarter.
Those games occurred on a Monday, though, making 2024's Wednesday contests an interesting scheduling experiment. Judging by past efforts, this -- like the league's many broadcasting innovations before it -- will succeed.
The NFL is banking on its ever-growing popularity, and with recent ratings and togetherness in mind, intends to keep football intertwined with holiday traditions this winter, and perhaps, for years to come.
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