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NFL-63 10/19/00
REALIGNMENT WORKING GROUP MEETS FOR FIRST TIME
The NFL realignment working group of NFL owners today met for the first time by conference call, the NFL announced today.
The League previously had agreed to realign from its current six-division format into eight divisions of four teams each when the Houston Texans take the field in 2002 as the League’s 32nd team.
The group today discussed several issues during the one-hour conference call. Those issues included future scheduling formats; the geographic alignment within new divisions; the number of playoff teams, the possible seeding of those teams and the number of byes in the postseason.
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue told the seven owners that he plans to have a League vote on the 2002 schedule and postseason format later this month at the regularly-scheduled League meeting on October 31 in Atlanta.
The seven owners on the realignment working group are: Ralph Wilson,
Dan Rooney, Wayne Weaver, Lamar Hunt, Bill Bidwill, Mike Mc Caskey and Jerry Richardson. Commissioner Tagliabue is the chairman of the group.
The realignment working group will meet with all other NFL owners on a regional basis, prepare an analysis, and report to all clubs at the Special League Meeting on January 17 in Dallas. The clubs have agreed to make a final decision on realignment by June 1, 2001.
The working group’s regional meetings will be conducted with "west" owners on November 14 in Denver, and "east" owners on December 6 in New York.
Realignment last took place in the NFL in 1970 when the NFL and AFL merged into two conferences of three divisions each, the present setup.