Raiders get extra home game as NFL owners add 17th game

The NFL is increasing the length of its regular season for the first time in 43 years after owners voted unanimously on Tuesday to add a 17th game to the schedule.

The first change to the schedule since 1978 will take effect this season and will result in all AFC teams hosting an NFC counterpart this year. The Raiders’ ninth home game will be against the Chicago Bears at Allegiant Stadium.

The date and time have yet to be determined.

Next year, all NFC teams will host their AFC counterparts that finished in the same place in the standings within their division the previous season.

In addition to adding a 17th game, owners also agreed to cut the preseason from four games to three beginning this season. A provision for a fourth game will be made for the two teams that play in the Hall of Fame game each year.

In 2021, AFC teams will play 10 home games, including one preseason game, and 10 road games, including two preseason games. The two conferences will flip-flop in 2022 and each year moving forward.

The new schedule coincides with the new record-breaking television rights deal the league agreed to with its broadcast media partners Amazon, CBS, ESPN/ABC, FOX and NBC. The new deal is worth $113 billion over 11 years beginning in 2023.

“This is a monumental moment in NFL history,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. “The CBA with the players and the recently completed media agreements provide the foundation for us to enhance the quality of the NFL experience for our fans.”

Under the new format, the NFL season will begin as usual immediately after Labor Day, with everything from that point being pushed back by one week. That includes the start of the playoffs and Super Bowl.

The idea of a 17th game was agreed upon last summer when the owners and players association ratified the collective bargaining agreement. While some players have expressed dismay over the additional game, in the long run, the added revenue will increase the 48.5-percent cut that players get from league revenue and raise the yearly salary cap under which teams fit their payroll.

According to a person with knowledge of the situation, NFL players that signed their current contracts before the new CBA was ratified last summer will receive an additional 17th game check equivalent to their weekly pay for the preceding 16 games.

In other words, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, who signed his contract in 2017 and is scheduled to make $19,525,000 million this year, will be paid as normal under the 16-game pay format (yearly salary divided by 16 games = $1,220,312 million per game), then get a 17th game check in that amount. For now, the additional pay for players that signed their contracts before last summer will not count against the salary cap.

For players that signed their contracts after the new CBA was ratified — such as new Raiders running back Kenyan Drake — their paychecks will be their yearly salary divided by 17 games.

Once all contracts signed before last summer expire, each team’s salary caps will reflect a 17-game pay schedule.

The new schedule will not result in an extra bye week, meaning the 17 games will be played over 18 weeks.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore onTwitter.