NFL Expands Super Bowl To Include 2 Additional Teams

NEW YORK—Following up on the momentum generated by expanding both the regular season and the playoff field, the NFL announced Friday that it would be expanding this year’s Super Bowl to include two additional teams. “We think that bringing more teams and fandoms into the playoffs this year has been a huge success, which is why we are going to give fans even more of what they like to see by putting two extra teams on the field for Super Bowl Sunday,” league commissioner Roger Goodell said of the plan, which calls for four teams—the AFC champion, the NFC champion, and two wild-card teams drawn from a play-in tournament among playoff losers—to square off in the big game. “We think giving teams a second chance and giving more franchises a shot during Super Bowl LVI will inject even more drama into what is already the largest sporting event in the world. On top of that, the game will be expanded to eight quarters instead of the normal four. This way fans will get everything they love, times two.” At press time, Goodell had released a new plan to extend the season into April by making the Super Bowl a best of five series, with the first of the four teams to win three games declared the champion.