The NFL Pro Bowl is going to look different this year. Rather than an exhibition game, the league is doing a showcase of sorts, with flag football being the flagship event, so to speak.
The AFC will be coached by Peyton Manning and the NFC will be coached by Eli Manning. Peyton, of course, spent his career in the AFC with the Broncos and Colts whereas Eli spent his seasons with the Giants in New York.
In addition, the events will be held in Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, home of the Raiders. It’s the second year in a row Las Vegas will host the Pro Bowl festivities after it spent four seasons in Orlando’s Camping World Stadium.
Here’s what the reimagined Pro Bowl Games will look like next week at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, featuring 7-on-7 flag football games and skills competitions such as best catch, gridiron gauntlet, kick tac toe and move the chains: pic.twitter.com/tXKmt79umJ
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 26, 2023
MORE: Watch the Pro Bowl competitions live on fuboTV (free trial)
Here’s what to know about this year’s Pro Bowl events.
When is the 2023 Pro Bowl?
The Pro Bowl has been supplanted by a flag football game to close out the week, with a series of skills competitions leading up to it.
- Skills challenges: Thursday, Feb. 2, 7 p.m. ET
- Skills challenges and flag football games: Sunday, Feb. 5, 3 p.m. ET
What channel is the 2023 Pro Bowl on?
- Channel: ESPN, ABC
- Stream: ESPN.com, ESPN+, fuboTV
ESPN will be airing the 2023 Pro Bowl, and with both Mannings coaching, there have to be simulcasts. They’ll be airing on the Disney family of networks, including ABC.
| Event | Date | Time (ET) | Channel/Stream |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skills challenges | Thursday, Feb. 2 | 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m. | ESPN, fuboTV |
| Skills challenges, flag football games | Sunday, Feb. 5 | 3 p.m.-6 p.m. | ESPN/ABC, fuboTV |
2023 Pro Bowl schedule of events
The Pro Bowl, however, goes beyond flag football. There will also be a series of skills competitions leading into the main event.
Those events will be held throughout the weekend, beginning on Thursday, Feb. 2.
Thursday, Feb. 2
- Epic Pro Bowl Dodgeball: Dodgeball, fairly self-explanatory.
- Lightning Round: A three-part event. Part one features a classic water balloon toss. Part two will be players catching punts from a JUGS machine. And part three, the championship round, will be dropping a bucket of water on the opposing coach’s head.
- Longest Drive: Players from each conference will try to drive a golf ball as far as they can.
- Precision Passing: A Pro Bowl classic, QBs from each conference will try to hit targets worth varying degrees of points based on difficulty. These targets will be worth one to five points.
- Best Catch Round One: Players will show their most creative catches around some of the most iconic locations in Las Vegas, and fans will vote to see who is in the finals.
Sunday, Feb. 5
- Best Catch Round Two: The winners of Round One of Best Catch will compete live in front of celebrity judges.
- Gridiron Gauntlet: A relay-race obstacle course a la American Ninja Warrior, players will run through a 40-yard stretch with a myriad of challenges.
- Kick Tac Toe: Pro Bowl kickers square off in a giant game of tic tac toe that works as a showcase of their kicking accuracy. It requires either three squares in a row or five squares total, no cat games here.
- Move The Chains: Teams of five players must drag a wall loaded with weights 10 yards using first down markers.
- Flag Football: Three 7-on-7 games, coached by Peyton and Eli.
All scoring will count toward the final score, adding weight to each of these skills competitions.
