The game has suffered from lackluster play, with a lot of players declining to play because of fear of injury among other things. This season, the NFL will change the game from the Pro Bowl to the “Pro Bowl Games” in 2023.
Instead of one game, there will be a series of “new challenges intended to showcase Pro Bowlers’ football and non-football skills in unique competitions.” At the end of these competitions, there will be a flag football game instead of a tackle game.
The league released a statement admitting that the new format is “to create a fresh take on what had become quite stale.”
The NFL also addressed that the Pro Bowl game, which is held the week before the Super Bowl, brought “a risk of injury, and the top athletes in today’s game are understandably unwilling to give it their all in a game that matters for nothing but, well, bragging rights.”
The first Pro Bowl games will be played at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023.