Could the NFL be moving its annual all-star game out of the country entirely after several years of shifting it around the U.S.?
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The NFL is reportedly considering moving the annual Pro Bowl to Brazil as soon as 2017 in order to increase football’s appeal in South America.
According to a report from Alex Marvez of FOX Sports, Brazil is a viable candidate to host the NFL’s all-star game in 2017 to both improve the attendance of the players – many of whom skip it in order to just stay home – and also to give South America a taste of NFL football.
For many years the Pro Bowl was played in Hawaii, but in recent years it has been played in the Super Bowl host stadium. Last year it was played in Phoenix, Arizona and the year before it was played in Miami, Florida.
Though the NFL has tried to make the game more exciting by having NFL legends – Jerry Rice, Deion Sanders, Cris Carter and Michael Irvin – as team captains and changing the format to a draft of all of the top players instead of the old AFC vs. NFC format, the game’s popularity is still very much on the decline. The Pro Bowl has seen its viewership decline in each of the last four years.
The 5.6 rating for the 2015 Pro Bowl was the lowest for the contest since 2007, but the 8.77 million viewership on ESPN still led all cable television programs for the week.
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