You aren’t going to find many people that defend the NFL’s all-star game, the Pro Bowl.
For years, the game has been criticized for its lack of excitement. It is hard to balance an exciting game, while make sure no one gets seriously hurt for a meaningless game.
So, on Monday, the league announced they are getting rid of the event that was already basically a flag football game, turning it into an actual flag football game.
The annual AFC vs. NFC game the week before the Super Bowl will become “The Pro Bowl Games," and this year, the flag football game will be played at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on February 5, 2023. Last season’s Pro Bowl was also in Las Vegas.
In addition to the flag football game, there will also be various skills competitions that will “showcase Pro Bowlers’ football and non-football skills in unique competitions.”
"We've received invaluable feedback from players, teams and fans about reimagining the Pro Bowl, and as a result, we're thrilled to use The Pro Bowl Games as a platform to spotlight Flag football as an integral part of the sport's future while also introducing fun, new forms of competition and entertainment that will bring our players, their families and fans closer than ever before," Peter O'Reilly, NFL EVP of club business and league events, said in a statement published to NFL.com.
The NFL’s first Pro Bowl was in 1951 in Los Angeles, and was played in L.A. from 1951-71. The game was held at various sites in the 1970s (including one more in Hollywood in 1979) until moving to Aloha Stadium in Hawaii, where it was held almost every year from 1980 through 2016 (minus stops in Miami in 2010 and Arizona in 2015).
The game was then held at Orlando's Camping World Stadium from 2017-2020, and the 2021 game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic before it was resurrected last January in Vegas.