Could Raiders get extra home game at Allegiant Stadium?

NFL owners will vote Tuesday to add a 17th game to the regular-season schedule. If the proposal passes as expected, the Raiders could be in line to play an extra home game at Allegiant Stadium this season.

The preseason would be cut from four games to three, with an extra week tacked on to the schedule, according to a person with knowledge of the proposal. The season would start as normal the first week after Labor Day. Everything else — the playoffs and Super Bowl — would be pushed back by one week.

Although nothing is official, the plan is for the extra home games to be divided by conference each year. One year all AFC teams will get an additional game, the next the NFC.

The Chicago Bears would play the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium this season should the proposal pass, a person close to the situation confirmed.

The possibility of adding a 17th game was agreed upon by the NFL and NFL Players Association last summer during the ratification of the new collective bargaining agreement.

As part of the new deal, the league could add a 17th game while adding two more playoff teams. The playoff element was introduced last season, with the format for each conference being a seven-team postseason in which the bye week was available to just the top seed in each conference.

By locking in a 17-game schedule this year, the league can present schedule certainty to its media rights partners.

The approval of the new record-breaking media rights deals — owners are expected to approve the deals Tuesday — coupled with the additional week of regular-season games will have a profound effect on revenue.

In turn, it will increase the amount of money players ultimately get as part of the 48.5 percent cut they get of overall revenue.

That also will mean growth to the salary cap, which decreased by $16 million per team this year because of the dramatic reduction in revenue caused by COVID-19.

Owners also will discuss Tuesday the possible reinstatement of offseason programs (OTAs) and minicamps, both of which were canceled last year because of COVID-19, and the potential of bringing back international games beginning this season.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.