Speaking of the Pro Bowl, here's a possibility that came to mind.
Arguably the biggest problems with the Pro Bowl is that it happens after/during the playoffs. The game have been the most intense contests of the entire year. What essentially amounts to a pickup game with pads just isn't going to be engaging by contrast.
The MLB, NBA, and NHL have their games during the middle of their season, in order to serve as a break in the action. Which is fine; all three have very long regular seasons, and an all star break helps to serve as a change of pace. Putting a change of pace just before the climax of your season is a terrible idea, however, and it's just going to seem boring by comparison.
Which means that the NFL would be best served by finding a more boring part of the season to insert the Pro Bowl in. Putting it during the middle of the season is an iffy proposition, if only because of logistics, so how about before the start of the season? What if, say, the Hall of Fame preseason game was replaced with the Pro Bowl featuring last years' nominees? Starters will probably wind up playing as much as they would have in any preseason game (that is to say not much), players wouldn't be dealing with injuries from a long season leaving them inclined to sit out, and above all else, people might show some interest. No one wants to watch an ultimately meaningless football game when the Super Bowl is just around the corner (or has already happened, in the case of the earlier format). But when there hasn't been any football for six months? I'd bet on ratings getting a significant boost.
Also, please bring back conference teams. This fantasy esque draft thing is stupid.
