5 ways the NFL could make the Pro Bowl more enjoyable for fans 

The NFL Pro Bowl has been the traditional end of the season for all the players not involved in the Super Bowl, and it serves as an athletic exhibition for fans of every team. Players travel to Hawaii looking to showcase their most exemplary individual skills—one-handed catches, spin moves, and no-look throws.

However, for years there have been complaints about the lack of competitiveness in the game, and it's understandable—players don't want to risk injury in what is a showcase event and nothing more.

Furthermore, the timing of the Pro Bowl doesn't always make for crowd excitement as these players have reached the end of a long season and would just like to be on the beach, especially those who just a week earlier lost in either the AFC or NFC Championship games.

Much of the 2022 discourse is about canceling the NFL Pro Bowl altogether, but that would deny fans a part of the calendar that has become a fixture; however, there are alternative options.

What are five ways the NFL can improve the Pro Bowl for fans?

The NBA's Slam Dunk Contest serves as great entertainment, a lead that the NFL can follow.

#1 – Ditch the game and have a skills contest

The lack of competitive football isn't going to change with the Pro Bowl being held at the end of the season.

The NFL needs to take inspiration from what other North American sports have done to make a skill contest the main attraction.

In fairness, the NFL has introduced events like this to the Pro Bowl week, but when you look at the 3-Point and Dunk contest in the NBA and the MLB's Homerun Derby, this is the zenith of mid-season events that the NFL has to strive to reach.

Fans don't necessarily buy Pro Bowl tickets to watch a game of regulation NFL football; they want to see star players, and they want to get as much Instagram content as possible.

If you cancel the game itself but have the entire day focused on specific tests of skill: offensive and defensive players doing a field-goal challenge, wide receivers only being allowed to catch one-handed, and quarterbacks having to throw over a certain distance and knock a flag off a pole, then fans will still be entertained.

If you just look at the popularity of Dude Perfect videos on YouTube, people love watching athletes showcase incredible pieces of skill and athleticism; it doesn't necessarily have to be in a game setting.

Touch football has been a way for athletes of other sports (cricket, in this picture) to warm up before specific training sessions; Photo: Australia ODI Nets Session

#2 – Shorten the field and play touch football

If the NFL is intent on the Pro Bowl being an actual game of football rather than merely a recognition of the best performing players that year, then something needs to be done to make the event stand out.

Fans want to feel like their money is being spent in a worthwhile manner. They want to feel as though they're getting something unique.

You're never going to see Patrick Mahomes playing a classic game of pick-up football on the street—but you can try and replicate it.

Shorten the field, make the game touch football to avoid most contact injuries, and just allow the players to play ball as if it's in the backyard on Thanksgiving.

There will be more exciting plays, more skills being shown, and fans will have more points and plays to cheer.

Fireworks on New Year's Eve at NASCAR LA Coliseum Previews

#3 – Host the event on New Year's Eve

This is a change that could reinvent the Pro Bowl, although it would require a change in the calendar. In most other sports, the All-Star festivities cause a break in regular scheduling and are a standalone event.

If you move to an annual event on New Year's Eve, you could create the annual party that fans want to be at—rather like the NFL Draft.

It's not impeding a major holiday like Christmas or Thanksgiving, both of which have a history of hosting sporting fixtures. However, people are generally off work and looking for something to do.

It's mid-season, so players are more likely to be healthy, and they won't want to risk sharpness being blunted by playing at 50% effort levels.

The NFL International Series match between Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in 2018 in London, England

#4 – Make the Pro Bowl an international event

The NFL has done an incredible job of marketing the sport to a worldwide audience over the last two decades, and international series games have followed and been tremendously successful.

The Pro Bowl could well be moved to be an international affair to ensure attendances remain high.

Even though players will have to travel more, you can virtually guarantee that fans in other countries will flock to the Pro Bowl to see stars they wouldn't usually get the chance to, especially if ticket prices are lower than an international series game.

There are no losers in this scenario—other than maybe the players. Fans don't lose any more season ticket games, and the NFL continues to spread internationally.

It could also open a window for other countries to become involved. We've got the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Germany hosting regular-season matches in 2022, but moving the Pro Bowl around internationally could perhaps test the market for new venues.

NFC Championship - Tampa Bay Buccaneers v Green Bay Packers

#5 – Play 5-minute quarters with different scoring structure

This final suggestion for changes to the Pro Bowl puts entertainment first.

Again, it's about making a product that feels unique and doesn't merely do a poor job of replicating a regular-season game.

Lower ticket prices, shorten the game to five-minute quarters and have a different scoring structure.

There would be no punting, no kicking, you have four plays to score a touchdown, and if you fail, the opposing team just gets the ball at their endzone.

The aim is to score as fast as possible and throw as many big plays as they like, and it would also limit the work in the trenches, reducing the chances of injury for offensive/defensive linemen and running backs.

Have points available for one-handed interceptions, passes for over 75 yards, and just a few tweaks to make the spectacle unique and give fans something to enjoy.

You can't offer to pay fans an authentic NFL experience with the Pro Bowl when the players are only giving 50 percent, nor can you expect the players to provide more than that in a glorified exhibition.

However, if you put on a different show, keep essential elements of football, and provide fans with great excitement, you will keep crowds high, and the players will relish it, too.

The Pro Bowl doesn't have to die in 2022, it simply needs rejuvenating to fit into the world we live in right now, and this is far easier than the NFL would believe. The time for change is now.