NFL fans mock Pro Bowl game getting abolished while keeping the individual award

The Pro Bowl — at least as it has been known for years — is no more.

On Wednesday, the NFL announced that, from the 2026 season onwards, the annual celebrity game would no longer be held. Instead, 88 nominees will still be invited to and honored in a ceremony in Los Angeles during the traditional weekend when the event was usually held.

Peter O’Reilly, executive vice president of club business and international and league events, said about the change:

“The Pro Bowl has always been about recognizing the players who distinguish themselves as the very best in the NFL. A Pro Bowl selection will return to its original purpose, honoring the best of the best. We want that distinction to carry even greater meaning for the players, their families, their clubs and our fans.”

Meanwhile, executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent explained to the Associated Press that the players themselves had requested the abolition, not wanting to play more football after being eliminated in the postseason:

“You come off the championship games, and the viewers see the physicality of the game, and you try to replicate that. Frankly, it just doesn’t sit well. This isn’t a good representation.”

Much derision ensued in the fallout:

A brief overview of the Pro Bowl’s evolution throughout the years

Although the NFL had hosted an All-Star Game pitting its champions against a selection of players from other teams from 1938 to 1942, the first Pro Bowl was staged in 1951, at the end of the 1950 season. For the first 21 iterations, the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles held the game.

Beginning with the 1973 edition, the venue was different, but from 1980 onwards, the NFL decided that Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, would be the permanent host. It would remain that way until 2009.

The 2010 edition, which was held in Miami, was marked by a major change that would stick for the rest of its existence: it was now held the week before the Super Bowl, meaning that players from that championship game’s participating teams now sat out.

Hawaii would once again host the Pro Bowl for the next four years. The last game held there in 2014 was marked by another change: instead of the usual conference-based distinction, players were entered into a “fantasy draft” and selected by a pair of Hall of Famers to form teams. This format lasted only three seasons.

The traditional AFC-NFC game returned in 2017 and persisted until 2022, although the COVID-19 pandemic shifted the 2021 edition to a Madden NFL 21 game. In 2022, in response to a continuing decline in viewership, the NFL announced that the event would be reworked into the Pro Bowl Games, featuring skills challenges and flag football games. This format would last four years.