The NFL has officially taken the Pro Bowl off of the Sunday between conference championship weekend and the Super Bowl.
On Wednesday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the league’s Pro Bowl Games will move to the Tuesday of Super Bowl week, ending its long run as the stopover point between the conference championships and Super Bowl Sunday. The league’s much-maligned All-Star event will begin at 6:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Feb. 3, and air on ESPN. The flag football game, the main event of the Pro Bowl Games after the league ended its tackle format in 2023, will begin at 8 p.m. ET.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announces that the Pro Bowl Games is moving to Super Bowl week.
From the release: Coverage of the Pro Bowl Games will begin on ESPN starting at 6:30 p.m. ET with the flag game at 8:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 22, 2025
Earlier this month, Sports Business Journal reported that the Pro Bowl Games would move to the site of the Super Bowl each year, rather than being played at a separate location. This year, the game will be played at the Moscone Center, a convention center in San Francisco.
“This is a little bit of a preview of what, in 2028, will be on an Olympic stage,” NFL EVP of events Peter O’Reilly said during the announcement. Flag football is scheduled to make its Olympic debut during the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
It became apparent that the NFL had something different in mind for this season’s Pro Bowl Games when ESPN, the event’s longtime rights partner, began scheduling NBA and NHL programming on its networks during the typical Pro Bowl windows.
Last year, the NFL’s All-Star event hit a new viewership low, averaging just 4.7 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, and Disney XD. The move to Super Bowl week could potentially revitalize ratings a bit, but is likely designed to encourage more players to actually participate in the event. In recent years, more players have decided to opt out of the Pro Bowl Games, further deteriorating its quality. But as many star players have commercial obligations during Super Bowl week, hosting the Pro Bowl in the same location might be an easier sell from a participatory standpoint.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.