NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had to address multiple controversial matters at the NFL Annual Meeting, but there was some speculation he was able to squash right away.
Despite reports that the league had been considering moving conference championship games to neutral sites to mimic the mixed fan representation often seen in the college football playoff and bowl games, no change is currently being discussed.
“We have not looked at that. I haven't heard that as a proposal, either internally or from our clubs,” Goodell said, per Brian Wacker of the Baltimore Sun.
The 2022 AFC Championship was slated to be held at the neutral Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in the event that both the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs advanced to the game. The decision was made to accommodate the Bills, who could have earned home-field advantage had their Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals not been cancelled (Damar Hamlin went into Cardiac arrest). Kansas City held its end of the bargain, but Buffalo fell a round early.
The idea of shifting permanently to neutral site conference title games would not go over very well with owners, who would argue that taking away home-field from the No.1 seed threatens to devalue the regular season. Though, this hypothetical modification would increase the importance of landing in the top two spots in the standings and in the process raise the stakes even more late in the regular season.
Fans do not have to concern themselves about this issue right now. Roger Goodell apparently isn't.
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