The NFL is ending one of its longest-running traditions, eliminating the Pro Bowl Games while preserving the honor of being selected as a Pro Bowler. Beginning with the 2026 season, the league will name 88 Pro Bowl players in late December, but there will be no replacement selections.
The NFL will no longer stage an AFC vs. NFC exhibition, skills competitions, dodgeball contests or a flag football game. Instead, the league plans to put the emphasis squarely on recognizing the players who earned the honor.
“It’s OK to be the first league to walk away from a competitive all-star game,” NFL executive vice president Peter O’Reilly said.
O’Reilly said the move represents a shift “from the game to the honor,” reflecting the league’s desire to restore the Pro Bowl’s significance. The selection process will remain unchanged, with players, coaches and fans each having an equal share of the voting process.
Although there will no longer be a Pro Bowl game, the 88 players selected will receive a much greater spotlight surrounding the honor.
The NFL plans to bring the Pro Bowl class together in Los Angeles during the traditional Pro Bowl weekend for an in-person celebration. The league also plans to enhance the announcement of the selections and create additional ways for players and fans to recognize the accomplishment.
The elimination of replacement selections is another significant change. In previous years, players who withdrew because of injuries, Super Bowl participation or other reasons could be replaced, sometimes resulting in large numbers of players ultimately carrying the Pro Bowl designation. The NFL believes limiting the honor to the original 88 selections will make the achievement more meaningful.
Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, said player feedback played an important role in the decision. According to Vincent, players valued the recognition of being selected but were less interested in competing in an exhibition immediately after a demanding NFL season.
The decision ends the NFL’s annual all-star competition after decades of format changes. The league has staged a version of the Pro Bowl since 1951, with the only interruption coming in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the years, the event moved from traditional tackle football to increasingly unconventional formats in an effort to make the game safer and more entertaining.
In 2023, the NFL replaced the traditional tackle-football game with the Pro Bowl Games, featuring skills competitions, dodgeball and other events before culminating in a flag football matchup between the AFC and NFC.
Those changes, however, did not solve the league’s larger challenge of making an all-star competition meaningful. The NFL has acknowledged that reproducing the intensity and physicality of an actual game with players coming off a long season was difficult.
The NFL’s new strategy is to make Pro Bowl selection itself the centerpiece rather than trying to create a competitive exhibition.
The league believes being voted one of the 88 best players in the NFL should stand as an important career achievement, with the honor carrying significance for players, their teams and their families.
The NFL will also continue promoting flag football separately, particularly with the sport preparing for its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Flag football programming will remain part of the broader football festivities surrounding the Pro Bowl period, but it will no longer serve as the Pro Bowl competition itself.
The first Pro Bowl class under the new system will be announced in December following the 2026 regular season. For a league that has spent years trying to reinvent its all-star weekend, the NFL is now taking a different approach: there will be no Pro Bowl game at all, but being named a Pro Bowler will matter more than ever.
