NFL will adopt 14-team playoff format in 2020 season
NFL owners voted to expand the playoff format by two teams starting in the 2020 season, the league announced Tuesday.
The expanded postseason, which was proposed in the new collective bargaining agreement, adds one club each from the AFC and NFC. Only the No. 1 seed in each conference will receive a first-round bye instead of the two highest-ranked clubs.
The playoffs will now feature three wild-card contests per conference. The No. 2 seed will host the No. 7 seed, while the 3-seed hosts the 6-seed and the 4-seed hosts the 5-seed.
This is the league's first playoff expansion since 1990.
Wild Card Weekend is scheduled for Jan. 9-10, 2021, with three games Saturday and three games Sunday.
The owners' vote Tuesday also approved the use of tracking data during the offseason and preseason for injury prevention, along with two new media deals, according to Albert Breer of the MMQB.
CBS will broadcast one of the additional wild-card contests Sunday. Another telecast of that game aimed at a younger audience will air on Nickelodeon.
NBC, its new streaming service Peacock, and Telemundo will broadcast another one of Sunday's wild-card games.