All while the NFL is renegotiating broadcast deals to secure a 50 percent increase in broadcast fees, it is starting a war with the NFL Referees Association. According to Kevin Seifert of ESPN, the league “is laying groundwork for hiring replacement officials this season.”
If you’ll remember, the NFL last did this back in 2012, when the league played the first three weeks of the regular season with replacement refs, ultimately deciding to pay the real refs following a blown call in Packers-Seahawks
on Monday Night Football dubbed the “Fail Mary,” which even the league’s own official YouTube account identifies the game by.
Per Seifert, the NFL is in the market for “150 mostly small college officials by the end of this weekend,” according to an email he has access to. Training will come through a four-day clinic in May.
The NFLRA is already stressing worries that these replacement officials could be coming to the NFL with a gambling angle:
NFLRA executive director Scott Green said the contingency plan raises two key issues:
The first is what Green believes would be an increased vulnerability to gamblers among replacement officials. The second, Green said, is the safety of players in games covered by officials who have not previously experienced the size and speed of the NFL game.
“Frankly,” Green said, “I’m surprised they would even consider it after 2012.”
We’ll just have to see what’s in store for us in 2026, but the league apparently wants to start onboarding these small school referees in April. If we see movement by then, we’ll know that the league’s owners are holding the line and willing to go into the season with replacements.
