NFL moves extra point to 15 yard line
I weakly support the change. Well over 99% of extra points were made, making it a non-factor time waster in the game. The new position makes for a 33 yard field goal, which is roughly a 92% chance.
I would support removing the extra point entirely (granting 7 points for a TD unless the team opted for 2) over the previous 2 yard line implementation, but that was never a real option since the extra point gives the NFL an excuse for an extra commercial.
It subtracts some plays that don’t matter, and adds some plays that matter. Not only does the extra point become a play worth watching, but when it actually makes a difference it’ll often lead to a two point scoring play being needed later. Two point conversions with the lead on the line are often the most important and exciting plays of the game. It’ll both decrease the amount of boring/unwatchable/time wasting plays and increase the number of interesting/dramatic plays.
Most of the objections I’ve seen have basically been pure conservatism. “Game is perfect, don’t change anything”, as if God handed down the rule of the 2 yard line on a stone tablet thousands of years ago and it can’t be changed. Ironically, the conservatism approach works either way - if it were always at the 15 yard line, and someone suggested they move it to the 2, people would say “no, the 15 yard line is perfect, this is how football was meant to be”
Which isn’t to say there aren’t better objections out there, but I haven’t been hearing them. I guess the best case you can make is that people simply don’t want more game-changing plays to be dependent on the kicking unit, but game-changing field goals are already a big part of the game.
Incidentally, I think it would be better for the game if the expected value of a 2 point conversion were greater than that of an extra point. It would give, well, smart coaches an advantage over conservative coaches, and I always like those opportunities. It would form an interesting dynamic to the game if you made the 2 point conversion about 60% of the time, giving an average value of 1.2 points, and the extra point stayed around 92%, giving it an expectation of .92 points. Undoubtedly, until someone actually won a superbowl being aggressive with two point conversions, NFL teams would stay with the conservative and wrong approach.