How NFL Will Replace Pro Bowl With New-Look All-Star Event

The NFL’s annual All-Star festivities will look different, starting this season, as the league announced Monday it’s replacing the traditional full-contact Pro Bowl game with weeklong skills competitions and a flag football game.

The new event, named “The Pro Bowl Games,” comes in response to diminished interest in the traditional Pro Bowl, which began in 1951.

“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,” NFL executive Peter O’Reilly said in a press release.

The Pro Bowl Games, a multiday AFC vs. NFC matchup, will feature new challenges in which “players showcase their football and non-football skills in unique competitions,” per the release. This season’s event is scheduled to take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday, Feb. 5.

Peyton Manning and Omaha Productions will help shape programming throughout the week of The Pro Bowl Games. The NFL also announced it will maintain fan voting, starting in the fall, to determine the AFC and NFC rosters.

All told, it obviously remains to be seen how successful the new event will be. But it’s hard to imagine many people missing the traditional Pro Bowl, as it long felt like a change was necessary, with players usually just going through the motions and trying to avoid injuries more than anything.

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