Pat McAfee interviews Roger Goodell: NFL global growth, kickoff rules & more 🏈 | The Pat McAfee Show

The busy NFL schedule ladies and gentlemen joining us is a man who does not need an introduction but we'll give him one this guy took a league from being good to phenomenal ratings through the roof everybody else has kind of plateaued or gone down what has this league done under this man's leadership well it's just gone up and to the right in every single Factor the commissioner of the greatest league on Earth the NFL ladies and gentlemen Roger Gale good morning good morning how you doing commiss hey we got big this a big week four straight days of NFL football to kickoff the season it's the biggest of all time how are you feeling going in four straight days in a trip to Brazil so that's that's pretty good so it it should be fun I I I love this weekend this is uh this is where it all gets going okay so for you a lot of your work happens in the off season or is regular season also very like I'm trying to get into the life of the commissioner of the NFL we were talking about this earlier like is your busy season done now because off season is when everything gets handled or how does it work for you uh our downtime is like July 2nd to July 5th America hell yeah hell yeah you know the off season that you you spend a lot of time preparing for the next year you know everything we do you know whether it's rules has to go through competition committee uh then voting of the membership other votes for the membership so we're really the the offseason become very busy obviously yet in the draft you add in the combine um so there's a lot going on uh the season gets you back to a little a little bit more of a rhythm and obviously you're reacting a lot to what's happening on on game day so that that makes it fun it's a it's a little bit of a uh nice Focus for us okay so New kickoff rules let's talk about game days game days are going to look a little bit different now especially with how games are starting with this new kickoff the dynamic kickoff was obviously past this past off season and it was basically with the guys or the conversation of like hey we have to change this play or we're going to lose this play and nobody in football wants to lose the kickoff so modeling after the XFL the speci teams coordinators came together with this particular hybrid style kickoff how do you feel about how it went in the preseason obviously returns are up through the roof and is there a chance to still change this through the season and tweak it to make it better so we get what we're hoping for out of this hybrid kickoff you know um pat first off you know preseason you don't see a lot right so to make uh a judgment after three weeks of the preseason is probably a little bit questionable because coaches are holding back and we'll see uh we'll see what they do once the regular season starts but to your point stats wise it was up I I think it's very clear we're going to get more returns it's also very clear that the average start Drive is going to be out probably five or six yards uh close to the 30 yard line again good for offense uh and I think we'll see some longer returns we saw that uh in the context of just the three weeks the safety part looks good but it's still too early to tell but we don't want to make any judgments just off the data we have but that that's the that's the driver for us make this play the exciting play it's always been but make it also safer closer to the safety level of of a normal scrimmage play it hasn't always been it was for a long time in the last couple years I think even I who am one of the biggest kickoff Advocates on Earth would say that it became just a routine ceremonial type play and worthy of going to the bathroom but Mr commissioner do people call you that do people call you Mr commissioner is that what they what do they call you you can if you have to but I prefer Roger but okay whatever you want Raj yeah hell yeah hell yeah Roger that you know what I mean I will dive into that is there a chance are you worried though and just as a special teams guy how will you handle this situation if they just say 30 Touchback to hell with it we'll just give up the 30 and it becomes a routinely ceremonial Touchback thing again I know it's not normal for the NFL to change anything during the season but is there a thought that maybe a conversation will take place about tweaking this thing before we get what it is whenever we see it happen in regular season well I think what would happen no not before the regular season the competition committee met last week they made some very minor adjustments they were really uh very minor uh I think what we're going to do Pat is what we always do we we put this in for a year we'll evaluate it for the entire year if we see that type of circumstance come out probably evaluate where the ball goes out to the 35 next year and try that I think it depends on sort of the outcome and and what it is we think we can tweak okay well I love to hear that and we can't wait to see how it goes I do fear that it's just going to become a Touchback thing but if not hopefully some magic takes place so we could save an important play and a lot of important jobs for special teamers who make up obviously a core portion of the roster Yearly turnover of playoff teams uh let's talk about some stats and analytics that we looked up okay Mr commissioner Raj we look these up so you can puff your chest a little bit do you know that every season since 1990 at least four teams have qualified for the playoffs after missing postseason action the year before will that streak to 35 years straight it could 35 years straight of that particular thing happening and six teams last year had this rule happen for them uh including the Cleveland Bron the Detroit Lions who almost went Green Bay who almost went Houston obviously was a surprise to everybody Los Angeles Rams and the Pittsburgh Steelers why do you think this is the case and do you think the product on the field is the reason why the ratings of money is everything up and to the right and how do we preserve that for as long as possible kamish well I always think the game it always starts with the game of football so when the game of football is competitive when it's exciting uh we we feel like that product is the best in the world and and I think that shows because I think the fan base is telling us that uh obviously you rely on your partners to make sure that the production and that we're reaching fans where they are and you know we've added new partners to our our uh our family over the last several years and I think they've brought a new approach to how to cover the NFL how to use creators and how to try to use technology that I think fans really enjoy so it's a it's a constant Evolution but we always spend the offseason going back to your first point how do we make the league better uh and that can be on the field but it can also be around the field and around our events and so that's where the focus has been and I I believe ultimately that's why it continues to grow but I also think and none of those numbers are reflected there in the context of our International growth which I think is Keeping it football it's it's a big future for us yeah let's talk International and uh how often do people tell you hey let's make sure football remains football how I mean I I was in one meeting that you in oh yeah I was in one meeting that you were in a round table thing and there were some old football players that literally every other sentence that came out of her mouth was like it's football this football to you that's a big deal honestly keeping the product the product it is I look at the mirror every day and I say keep it football but but you know the reality Pat um you know it's a tough game these guys are bigger faster more athletic um it's back to fundamental football right it's I don't think we've taken the cont out what we tried to do is remove those dangerous techniques that we see an increased uh rate of injury the hip drops a good example of it we'll try to coach that out this year try to get it out of the game because it deserves to be out of the game when you have the serious injuries you have and four time the rate four times the rate of injury that's it's just not acceptable in the game kamish I was down at the league owner meetings down there in uh Orlando Florida I it was hot as I forget what it was it was down in Florida it was very hot but uh coach you should have been in the room well especially when you're talking I assume it does get a little hot whenever we're trying to pass some things that's good passion that's good energy but I saw Coach Harbaugh Jim and uh it was my first time since seeing him since the national championship or whatever and I know he's super big football guy you know like he is one of the most football guy football guys of all time and I'm like hip drop tackle getting me what does that even mean like how do you feel body goes got to get out of the game got to get out of the game I'm like what are you talking like everybody that I've ever talked to that plays defense they're like I never was taught a hip I don't even know what a hip drop like that's not on purpose harbach grabs me by my shoulders and he goes it's just taken this we just wanted and he's like a big dude he's like this just can't happen any he's like for the good of the game this can't happen anymore and it was like okay that makes sense feels like you're going to be able to you got Jim to buy in which means I think you'll be able to keep everybody to buy in but everybody's worried that the toughness is going to get taken out of the game I don't think that's the case because I believe you and nobody's going to I'm going to get heckled for saying this Roger Kel is a football guy I me like your life is actually football through and through I think you're trying to persevere and keep it around forever now you talk about International growth let's dive into that obviously International growth England has had a game Germany had a game last year I think there was a couple million people in the queue Canada has hosted games I think Japan hosted a preseason game a long time ago Mexico has hosted games in the past now you're going regular season regular Mexico regular season yeah like Monday night football yeah I think it was like Monday night football game now opening week on Friday you're going to Brazil when we were with uh done a few years back they had the international NFL rights and it was like Italy Spain I think Germany was in there and then Brazil was like this massive hotbed of NFL fans why did you pick Brazil all the stuff that's being chatted about the things that can potentially happen outside the stadium with the players and everything like that how much does that weigh into the thought of where you're going and how long do you see us going to Brazil for football and how how how's South America growth going to go in your eyes you think well we you know we sort of we follow the data uh fan base uh is incredible down there uh this is sort of like the spark that just creates the fire and so that's the the the the point of this regular season game is to make sure that uh we can bring our game directly to those fans and we're seeing that reaction it's you know we're a couple days out now and uh tickets are really at a premium it's hard to find uh there's a lot of excitement in town so when you bring our game and share it with others they love it and that's that's essentially what we're doing is is letting the game sell it and uh you know obviously there'll be a lot of entertainment around it there'll be a lot of excitement not just the football game but you know every time we've done this they want more and you know you take Munich you mentioned before the first year uh Tom Brady told me after the game he said that was one of the best experien I've ever had in football and that's a big statement from a TV but but the reality is we almost had to throw people out of the stadium they were still singing almost 40 minutes after the game and that's you know that's what we're doing we're sharing the NFL experience with the world and and we are really focused on becoming a global game and I think Global expansion is obviously you know still very viable for you I mean there's still so many parts of the world that are other sports first and then as soon as they get a chance to see our American Gladiator game you know I mean it is it's only a matter of time I think before the entire world gets in there and I assume you're dabbling and trying to figure out where the NFL is going to head to next and having it be week one that feels like a big statement from you for an international game especially Packers Eagles like those are two soldout stadiums if those are both home games right you know like Jacksonville used to get sent to England a lot obviously because they have ties over there but not necessarily A sellout every single game Green Bay and Phil Adelphia that that place been sold out forever and ever amen I mean that's how it go so to have this game be International be in Brazil opening night making its own night almost Friday is a massive statement I think by you guys is that a right way to read it or uh am I looking into it too much no it's absolutely right I mean two historic franchises playing in a historic game uh their first in Brazil uh so to us it was it is making a statement I'm glad you read it that way um for us we want the world to know we're coming uh that we're bringing football our clubs have uh agreed to play up to eight regular season games uh we have expectations that we'll go well beyond that uh we think we'll be a seven next year we're already going to Spain next year we'll be back in Mexico I hope by next year so uh we're really excited about where the future is for us on an international basis we are too we just won International a week ago and we have a pitch for you from tone Diggs who's an AP voter this year for NFL awards yeah yeah you mentioned Spain next year uh and I asked you after at the draft about bringing the draft to Pittsburgh thank you appreciate that for you doing that for thank you thank we we have another plea after going to Florida state Georgia Tech in Ireland it was unbelievable and you see how the college does over there and I actually had a the pleasure of having conversation with Dan Rooney III over there because I think he was exploring bringing uh a potential Steelers game over to Ireland because the fan base there uh is incredible with the Ambassador um have you thought about you know going to Ireland soon and and maybe a Steelers game maybe a Steelers felt we thought Steelers Patriots felt right yeah a lot of Irish folks lot of Irish yeah well this uh I hear from the roonies every other day about going back to Ireland to play so yes I Ireland is definitely on the watch list let's put it that way I would expect to be you need to Hey listen it is good Pat you're coming with us well I don't actually don't know if I need to go back into that City I had 30 guinnesses on one night I mean obviously you're not supposed to Raj they go down impressive thank you thank you I thought that was the same reaction that everybody would have not everybody had that reaction just want to let you know that uh if if you have a game in Ireland we would obviously love and take the show we would take the whole show there obviously and I think they would be set up right for it as would most places I'm pumped to see where you take it to next Australia obviously would be a difficult thing to figure out but they're starting to have more NFL guys with the pun and the time zone I'd be pumped to see how you navigate that speaking of navigating uh your schedule this season debut has a question for you yeah commiss talk briefly about your offseason I hope you had fun with that but um I'm a Sunday Ticket guy maybe some Red Zone throw a Travel schedule couple games here uh what's your SK uh travel schedule like during the season like how do you decide which games to go to do you try to watch them all on like some type of screen I know you have that button under your seat at all the time to control scores and ending of the game what you travel like uh throughout this season how do you how do you make those decisions um it usually starts with a requests uh if there's you know a big moment like I I'm coming back from Brazil for the Giants game because it's the start of their 100th season so uh they asked if I'd come out there and and teams are celebrating different things during the season so I try to get around as many stadiums I'll probably get to 27 or 28 games this year um obviously having the Thursday and Sunday and the Monday helped me sort of double up once in a while because when I stay at home I make a lot of notes uh can see a lot more when I'm home uh which everybody here hates but I come back with two pages of notes three pages of notes because I can watch everything and I can see what's going on what year is this for you as commissioner uh good question 2006 it's about 19 19th season I think so hell yeah 40 43rd I think overall though when I started as an intern in ' 82 and you're taking that many notes still every single Sunday you could have mailed it in let other people hand you know you got a McCarthy over there who could enter a room and say McCarthy here get a deal done for the NFL yeah yeah he could at this point he could get that done can't figure out the angle of a camera but he could figure out everything else if he had to the fact that you're still this invested this is a this is like I don't want to say passion project because you get paid very well but you take a lot of shots on your shins and you've created immense profit for a league and owner so your payment is worthy I do believe personally but it's like a passion passion project for you still like H how like what do you do whenever you're not involved with like you think about players that's a question my wife asks me all the time I I don't know because it's really it has been such a passion it it would be a big adjustment for me but you know everything comes to an end and you know when I feel like I can't give it everything I have I can't give it uh the passion that you're talking about then I'm definitely hanging up my cleats but um I don't feel that I I'm I I couldn't be more excited I'm ready to go and I can't sleep in tonight cuz I'm so excited well there there's a lot of things going on so we need you to at least stay in that seat for a while cuz you've been able to navigate it let's go to the holidays Ty has a question for Holiday games you yeah kamish last time we talked to you at the draft there were kind of Whispers of the whole you know uh Christmas games being on Netflix but it hadn't been announced yet now that is happening how excited are you on the prosp I mean obviously we all see the numbers we know what NFL games do but the amount of new eyeballs you'll be able to get on Netflix how enticing is that and then also will these Christmas games be available on like the European uh versions of Netflix like is it going to be kind of part of that Global expansion as well yeah that's a good question and it's one of the reasons we chose Netflix is because we were looking for a global media partner uh and they are Global uh they're nearly 300 million subscribers on a on a global basis so many they really wanted to get into live sports with the NFL um we'd love that they wanted to own Christmas Day we' love that too um and I I think this was a a chance for us to take our games on a platform that we know a lot of our fans are there um and we need to go to those platforms and also um I think they're going to bring a Different Twist to it you know they're really excited by this they want to make it something that's different than what you might see on on other carriers and again we think that'll be appealing for our fans yeah commiss though you're just trying to get every dollar money that's all it is commiss you just want me to you want to get every single dollar and I talked to Brian go ahead go ahead you want to finish that one yeah I I'll take you on on that yeah so I was talking to Brian rolap who is uh the media guy I believe for the NFL I believe he's Rogers number two whenever it comes to Med I don't know the exact titles of the suits so I apologize over there but he's been around long time 20 I think 27 years in this entire thing and I talked to him about like the backlash of the peacock and the Netflix and the Amazon and this and this and this and he goes like people are blaming us or saying that we have a money grab or whatever he said there's numerous times where we could have done money grabs we do not want to take the money grab path we want expand we want growth we want a game to still be seen by a lot of people and he said some of these platforms Netflix more specifically people that have never seen an NFL game are going to be able to see it because they're on there so it's almost like uh we're trying to do the game in an audience a favor from going to some of these platforms while also having new partners come along and see what the future is is kind of how he explained it to me now I I don't know if I took his statement 100% correct in the phone call but I believe no that's no that's right I you know at the end of the day the number one thing we look for is reach and reach to New fans and if if someone paid us a lot of money and it had a very small uh audience we wouldn't do it uh because that doesn't help us much now maybe close to an exception with that was peacock because that was an opportunity for us to really open up a platform that was important for us on streaming and it worked uh and now peacock is got the NBA uh they had the Olympics uh that is that's now providing a better platform and a better service to our fans and ultimately the NFL was part of building that it's the same way when we we went with Fox 25 years ago you know they weren't even a network at the time they didn't have a sports division they called it NFL that was it that was Sports and they built something that was incredibly valuable to I think our fans over the last several decades and that's what we look for as partners who understand our content understand the the the ability to bring in new audiences to bring in advertisers but more importantly provide a great product for our fans that Madden documentary explained the story of fox is awesome I would recommend it for anybody that's interested in football the NFL and business because NFL and Madden were kind of the move for Fox to create their entire entity and then you talk about peacock you and NBC have been great partners for a long time so that's another thing like doing business with people that you've done business with for a long time this is the modern world that we're in it's going to get to a point I respect the way you guys have done it although I understand where people get pissed about missing one game or two games but majority of football games are viewed free television H for it's you've done great well P you know the the games in those two the G every game in those home markets it is shown on free television but we're still close to eight 90% 85 to 90% of our games are on free television and you know that's that's far and away any other league any other league worldwide is this what you said on the stand in California whenever they were question when you were going in there I I don't know if you heard our coverage of that whole thing I don't know if you heard our coverage of that whole thing you walking in there to testify we were like we wish we could be in there right now we wish so bad and that's the whole scene but I think it's all because of the passion of fans like it's a good problem to have but it is certainly something you don't want a majority of your fans to start thinking because it's not based in reality but you know there is business to be had here everything doesn't go for free but P that's why we were so strong on defending it because we think our you know our media policies are as fanf friendly as you can get that far better than any other league on the global basis and and that's we pride ourselves on that and that's why we go to defend that when that happens that's pretty much what Brian said you got a good group over there too now that I've got a chance to meet him last question here uh from Boston Connor and we appreciate your time we know it's a busy week yeah Roger big conversation this Guardian Caps being used off season has been kind of the use of Guardian caps not so much in practice but in the preseason games and now it feels as though players are going to use them during regular season games too is this something you guys always kind of thought was going to happen with the guardian caps and also how far off are we from you know a product of a helmet that is the same quality of safety as a regular helmet with a guardian cap on top of it it's a really good question and we already actually have a helmet that is is uh is as safe as the one with a guardian cap uh so I I think we've already achieved keep that um but if a player is comfortable in a what I'll call an older helmet not the last generation I think we had six new helmets come out this year all scored incredibly high on the safety standards that we go through and if you wore an old helmet with a guardian cap that new helmet would exceed that or be just at the same level no there' be no marginal difference in it so the reality is that exists already today I think the big change for us in helmets besides raising that bar and ra the standard is going to be getting a position specific helmets you know so you get different impacts right a quarterback could have it back here defensive line offensive line here uh and that's already on the field also and so it's an adjustment because players want to get used to that helmet um but they're they've done it I think we had 360 players that changed helmets this year and upgraded to better helmets that's good for the game that's good for our players that happens every year every training camp there's like a new helmet that's been certified I think you guys have been focusing on this for a while some of them are incredibly uncomfortable some of them look stupid but nowadays it's almost like we've got to the point where it doesn't matter n like it almost looks cool because you have that like that quarterback one if that thing has a big like a I don't know could you imagine I don't know could you imagine they put like like it it's sort of like one of your haircuts is it watch your mouth watch your hey uh before we let you go I if I didn't ask I'd be the worst uh journalism human of all time yes where are you right now good looking wood got some good looking wood there I see a bunch of NFL balls obious is this your office there that is your office uh this is the office those footballs Are all uh footballs that were from the Super Bowls the game balls and uh Pat I think it's about time you brought the show to the uh to the NFL office all of you we'd love to have you ex you sure okay oh is that is that you're not sure or no no I I didn't think that would I didn't think that was going to be coming this way so so uh bring the show the NFL office we'll do like a tour we'll be able to like walk around see things touch every one of those Super Bowl footballs act like we're there wear a ringk is that what you're think sit at your desk make sign some P paperwork some peanut M&M peanut M&M for sure we'll do the is that what we're doing or what are we doing use your private bathroom yeah I'm still working on those M&M's from the draft that was you guys killed me on that one well you look good you look good what are you talking about you guys are welcome we love have you here that everyone would love it all right come anytime we'll do our show live from the NFL office okay whoa deal let's have it on all right let's figure it out safe travels to Brazil and back uh continue Leading The Way We Appreciate You I'm 37 years old the boys in their 30s we need the NFL to continue to be king for about the next 30 years or so then we'll go into retirement so let's go ahead and uh keep it going Rog we appreciate your big brain brother you got a p ladies and gentlemen appreciate it hey we appreciate you commissioner of the NFL Roger [Applause] Goodell yeah keep going Raj immediately after I said that he say you got it babe on the way out of that entire thing [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]