Pro Bowl Format: How does the NFL Pro Bowl work?

The NFL Pro Bowl continues to change and adapt from its long-time format of players going to Hawaii to play after the Super Bowl. Since 2010, the NFL has actively changed the location (rotating locations like the Super Bowl), experimented with removing conference-only teams, and infusing a “school yard” style of picking teams. The league also moved the game from after Super Bowl weekend to the weekend between the AFC and NFC championship games and the Super Bowl.

While the NBA All-Star and MLB All-Star games are played in the middle of the season, the NFL stages the Pro Bowl after the regular season (due to the injury risks and the logistics of a typical NFL season). For these reasons, the popularity of the NFL’s All-Star game has continued to decline. Despite this, it draws similar ratings to the other sports’ All-Star games.

The new features of the NFL Pro Bowl

The Pro Bowl experiment continues. According to NFL.com, this year, it will have a new approach -- the “Spot and Choose” method, where no kickoffs will occur during the game. Instead, the winner of the opening coin toss will be able to choose where the ball will be spotted anywhere on the football field, or they can choose whether to start on offense or defense from the designated spot. The wrinkle to this rule includes an option that the team that determines the spot must announce where on the field the ball will be placed. Then, the other team can choose to play defense or offense.

Another new rule involves field goals. After a successful field goal or a failed attempt, the kicking team can choose to give the opposing team the ball at the opposing team’s 25-yard line in a first-and-10 situation, or the kicking team can keep the ball at its own 25-yard line with a fourth-and-15 situation.

The last new change to the format is the implementation of a 35/25 second play clock, instead of the regular 40/25 play clock. Additionally, to speed up the game, the referee’s signal will start the game clock following an incomplete pass. This will occur outside the last two minutes of the first half and outside of the last five minutes of the second half.

It remains to be seen whether these rule changes will eventually be adopted in regular season NFL games. That being said, NFL purists would point out that, over the years, the NFL has slowly eroded the importance of placekickers (e.g., incentivizing two-point conversions by moving the distance back for point-after touchdown field goals).

The 2022 Pro Bowl will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, February 6, 2022.