NFL eliminating Pro Bowl event, prioritizing individual performance award without alternates

The league is leaving the all-star competition in the past and prioritizing the Pro Bowl honor as an individual performance award without alternates.

League executives reportedly presented the future of the Pro Bowl to team owners on Wednesday. Without a standalone game or event to field, 88 players will receive Pro Bowl status every season.

"The Pro Bowl has always been about recognizing the players who distinguish themselves as the very best in the NFL," Peter O'Reilly, NFL executive vice president of club business and international and league events, said in a statement .

"A Pro Bowl selection will return to its original purpose, honoring the best of the best. We want that distinction to carry even greater meaning for the players, their families, their clubs and our fans."

In recent years, as the Pro Bowl experimented with different formats, including a flag football game that offered a bit more intensity but also an array of confusing rules, opt-outs increased. That left the league scrambling to fill spots with less qualified players who absorbed a Pro Bowl designation nonetheless. For instance, this past season, a pair of quarterbacks who started for a 5-12 Cleveland Browns team — Joe Flacco and Shedeur Sanders — were recognized as Pro Bowlers even though they were replacements for the game of flag.

They wound up helping the AFC build a big lead in a contest the NFC roared back to win 66-52 on a Tuesday night in San Francisco leading up to Super Bowl LX in nearby Santa Clara.

While flag and the other games the NFL has rolled out for the Pro Bowl have infused some fun into the two-week hiatus ahead of the big game, the surge in alternates stripped the Pro Bowl of its prestige and practically rendered any healthy discourse about snubs obsolete .

The NFL is now trying to renew the significance of being a Pro Bowler by solely emphasizing the accolade.

This season's Pro Bowlers will be invited to Los Angeles for an in-person celebration during the traditional Pro Bowl weekend.

An equal-weighted voting process among players, coaches and fans will continue to be used in determining the Pro Bowl roster. The class will be revealed in late December "through an enhanced announcement," according to a league release , which notes that Pro Bowlers' uniforms will be adorned with a "lasting and visible recognition" that'll serve as a symbol of their achievements.

During the 2025 campaign, the NFL tried holding its Pro Bowl in that season's Super Bowl market.

For decades, the Pro Bowl occurred the week after the Super Bowl. Aloha Stadium in Honolulu was home to the game for 30 straight years. Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, eventually became a popular site for the event, and Las Vegas ' Allegiant Stadium was used to host it as well.

In the 2022 season, the Pro Bowl pivoted from its traditional tackle football game and turned to flag football and a skills competition.

Four seasons later, the Pro Bowl will only exist as an award.

"This direction came directly from our continued conversations with players and what they value most about the Pro Bowl," Troy Vincent , NFL executive vice president of football operations said in a statement.

"Being selected by your peers, coaches and fans as one of the very best at your position carries tremendous meaning. We heard clearly that the distinction matters, and our focus is on making the recognition that comes with it worthy of what these players accomplished on the field."