The 2010 Pro Bowl will be played one week before the Super Bowl on Sunday, Jan. 31 and both games will be staged in Dolphin Stadium, the NFL announced Tuesday.
"We are looking at alternatives to strengthen the Pro Bowl," said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. "We will continue to work with the players to make it a great event and will evaluate this concept after the 2010 Pro Bowl."
The site and date of Pro Bowl games after 2010 will be determined at a later date and will include playing the game on a rotating basis in Honolulu, the NFL announced.
The current AFC-NFC Pro Bowl format, which began in 1971, rotated annually between host sites until 1980 when it moved to Honolulu. The 2010 game also won't be South Florida's first Pro Bowl: the 1975 game took place in Miami's Orange Bowl. The game has been held in Tampa, Seattle, Dallas, Kansas City, New Orleans and Los Angeles on three occassions.
It's not a new notion to have the game moved up to take place between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl. The NFL has discussed it multiple times in recent years, and Goodell told the Associated Press last month that having the game precede the Super Bowl would avoid a "somewhat anticlimactic" ending to the season.
The initiative to experiment with the Pro Bowl schedule and location was discussed over the past two years with NFL club owners, the NFL Players Association, the NFL Player Advisory Council, and other players, and it received wide player and club support.
"Moving the Pro Bowl to the Sunday prior to the Super Bowl can add even more excitement to Super Bowl week, one of the most anticipated weeks of the year," said Frank Supovitz, the NFL's senior vice president of events. "Taking the Pro Bowl to new locations can showcase our top players to more fans around the country. We are also in discussions with key leaders in Hawaii to continue our partnership with the State of Hawaii, which has embraced the Pro Bowl for 30 years."
In addition to the Pro Bowl's annual ticket subscribers, tickets to the 2010 Pro Bowl at Dolphin Stadium will be made available to Dolphins season ticket holders, as well as to fans across the nation. Pro Bowl annual ticket subscribers in Hawaii will maintain their account status for any future games at Aloha Stadium.
The 2009 Pro Bowl will be played at Aloha Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 8, and will be televised on NBC at 4:30 p.m. ET.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
