Special NFL owners meeting is set for August 27, in Minnesota

It’s official. Be there, or be not part of the official quorum.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the NFL’s owners will meet on August 27 to vote on a rule allowing a portion of franchises to be sold to private equity firms.

Previously, the Commissioner had asked the owners to hold the date. The actual meeting hinged on the committee that has been considering the private equity issue coming up with a firm and final proposal.

Factors include the maximum percentage of a team that can be sold to private-equity firms (it’s expected to be 10 percent), whether one team can sell slivers to multiple firms, whether one firm can own pieces of multiple teams, and whether teams will be able to buy back the percentages of the franchise that have been sold to private-equity firms.

While potential tweaks to the kickoff rule aren’t officially on the agenda, the meeting represents the last, best chance to make changes. By then, the preseason will be over, and the regular season will be nine days away. Given the league’s strong reluctance to change the rules during a given season, any adjustment to the kickoff rule that requires a vote of the owners will need to happen then.

The biggest question is whether the owners will consider moving the touchback point from the 30 to the 35. Absent the adjustment, there’s a good chance that many if not most if not all teams will kick out of the end zone and concede the 30 — especially if the average starting field position with the new formation is in the vicinity of the 30, anyway.

For now, it’s not on the agenda. Within the next 10 days, it could be. If it isn’t, there’s a chance that the so-called dynamic kickoff will be no different than the dead-and-buried kickoff of 2023.