NEW YORK—NFL team owners briskly left a hotel in downtown Manhattan late Thursday afternoon, having approved the principal terms for a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement with the players. The attention now turns to the NFL Players Association, which will discuss on Friday whether to approve these same terms, negotiated between the NFL and the players union over the past 10 months.
The vote to approve was not unanimous among the 32 clubs, per a source with knowledge of the results. Notable changes among the terms voted upon include expanding the playoff field to include one extra team from each conference, for a total of 14 teams in the postseason, starting in 2020; a 17-game regular season with three preseason games, which would be instituted no earlier than 2021; and an increased revenue share for the players, up from 47 to 48 percent, or 48.