Unlike some notable quarterbacks who passed on participating in the Pro Bowl Games because of injury or other reasons, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will make his first Pro Bowl appearance Thursday night in the skills competition in Orlando, Florida.
The NFL leader in passing yards this season had been voted in twice before but declined, reflecting one of the problems Pro Bowl Games organizers face each year. Star quarterbacks have been especially difficult to convince to show up. The Baltimore Ravens' Lamar Jackson and Buffalo Bills' Josh Allen (hand injury) will not participate this year after deep playoff runs. The Houston Texans' C.J. Stroud declined to fill in as an alternate, and the Denver Broncos' Bo Nix reportedly passed because of a back injury.
The AFC quarterbacks other than Burrow are the New England Patriots' Drake Maye (replacing Jackson) and the Pittsburgh Steelers' Russell Wilson (replacing Allen). The NFC quarterbacks are the Minnesota Vikings' Sam Darnold, the Detroit Lions' Jared Goff and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield (replacing the Washington Commanders' Jayden Daniels).
Former five-time Pro Bowler J.J. Watt, who retired after the 2022 season, posted Tuesday on X: "When you get 5 alternates deep, just call it the Participation Bowl."
But as the NFL embarks on the third year of the Pro Bowl Games -- the revamped, flag-football-centric format -- its future appears more certain than it's been in years, with fan -- and player -- interest remaining high and stable, according to the NFL.
The skills show begins at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, while the flag game is at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday on ESPN, ABC and ESPN+.
"There may have been people who were at one point skeptical, [asking] could you fill a stadium for a flag-football game?" said Peter O'Reilly, NFL executive vice president of club business, international and league events. "This is different."
Since the flag format's inception in 2023, attendance has averaged 57,020.
O'Reilly emphasized the focus on entertainment and personality in the current format, with players no longer donning helmets and playing to the crowd.
The 2023 event in Las Vegas got Orlando officials interested in hosting the game again as they had four previous times in the tackle format. The region's tourism officials decided to make bidding on the game a priority for 2024. Now, they're hosting it for a second straight year.
"We walked in and saw that crowd that was there in Allegiant [Stadium] and said, 'This works,'" said Steve Hogan, CEO of Citrus Sports, an organization that promotes sports tourism in the area. "So, the next year, we had it back here and the energy in the stadium was awesome. It was constant programming. There were kids and families everywhere. There's always an activity. Constant stimulation.
"I couldn't have been happier."
Casandra Matej, CEO of Visit Orlando, characterized the Pro Bowl's local impact as critical.
"We're home to a lot of major events, major conventions and major visitation being the No. 1 visited leisure destination in the U.S.," she said. "But these are all important, and it really helps our economy. Looking at some of the stats, [the Pro Bowl] is right around a $45 million of economic impact for our community."
Television ratings have dipped in recent years -- a reality all-star events are facing across all pro sports -- but league officials are happy with viewership numbers. With 5.8 million viewers last year, the Pro Bowl Games nearly tripled the average ratings for the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals (2.1 million).
One thing that has bolstered the NFL's long-term confidence is the feedback it has received from players. The league annually surveys players after participating in the Pro Bowl, and the number of them expressing satisfaction in the experience has increased sharply, O'Reilly said.
"Their feedback compared to in the tackle format rose massively when we went to this format," he said. "And then it rose again last year. That's in the mid- to high-90s in terms of satisfaction with the events."
That might be leading to better turnout among players.
O'Reilly believed this year's Pro Bowl was on track to set a record for the fewest replacement players since the league began tracking that information, but the situation is always fluid. The upcoming Super Bowl always deals a blow to the Pro Bowl roster, with a combined 11 players from the Chiefs and Eagles unavailable to participate.
Hesitation in past years about injury risk while playing tackle football ultimately hurt the product in two ways. Some players were obviously reluctant to play because they might sustain an injury. But even for those who did play, the level of competition left a lot to be desired because players did not want to engage in too much physicality.
Playing flag, however, has allowed players to be much more competitive and has made the event relatable to a generation of kids who are playing flag at unprecedented rates -- a major priority for the NFL heading into the 2028 Olympic Games, which will feature flag football for the first time.
"We came together with the players, made the determination to move away from the tackle football game and create something that really accomplished a number of things," O'Reilly said. "And at the core of this is celebrating some of the best players in the NFL, doing that in a way that works for them and has the right feel to it and is fun."
