NFL owners approve wild new kickoff rule for 2024: Here's everything you need to know about one-year trial run

The changes are meant to entice more returns

By John Breech Aug 10, 2024 at 7:42 pm ET• 6 min read

The NFL kickoff will be undergoing a dramatic change for the 2024 season.  

CBS Sports lead NFL insider Jonathan Jones has reported that the NFL's 32 owners officially approved the new kickoff proposal at the Annual League Meeting in March. It looked like the owners were originally going to vote on the rule earlier, but several were apprehensive about making such a dramatic change to the NFL rule book. The NFL decided to hold off for 24 hours before voting on the kickoff rule and delaying the vote ended up working. 

In the end, the rule passed 29-3 with only the Raiders, 49ers and Packers voting against it. 

Jones has reported that the rule has been approved on a one-year trial basis only, which means the NFL can scrap it if the rule doesn't lead to more returns, which is what the league is hoping to see. 

The new kickoff is nothing like the old kickoff. The proposal alone was 9.5 pages long, so it's a lot to digest.