Report: Bears chairman voted against 17-game NFL season

While just about everyone associated with the NFL realized for months, if not years, the league would expand to a 17-game regular-season format via a vote among owners that occurred on Tuesday, the idea wasn't without detractors. Recently, New Orleans Saints star running back Alvin Kamara hit out at the inevitable expansion via a not-safe-for-work tweet. 

What's somewhat surprising is that Kamara seemingly found an ally in a league executive. 

ESPN's Seth Wickersham reports that Chicago Bears chairman George H. McCaskey voted against the measure. The Bears hadn't returned a call to ESPN as of the posting of this piece. 

Earlier this month, Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal reported NFL revenue fell from $16 billion in 2019 to $12 billion in 2020 due to hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The NFL recently put pen to paper on media rights deals that will reportedly earn the league $10 billion annually through the 2033 season, and logic suggests teams playing additional meaningful games over the next 13 campaigns should make owners even more money. 

It's widely believed it's only a matter of time before the NFL expands the regular season to 18 games, and that reality makes McCaskey's dissenting vote all the more curious.