What does it matter? Its a part of the package the players agreed to during the CBA negotiations. Do you think they agreed to it even if they didnt get something they wanted in return?
Obviously its for the money. More money for the league and more money for the players. The fans gets an extra game.
From ESPN:
So, what are the players getting?
For starters, more money, in the form of a higher share of league revenue beginning in 2021. This year, players will get 47% of all league revenue, in keeping with their number from the current CBA. The expansion of the postseason by two teams will generate an estimated $150 million, according to the NFLPA memo, and 47% of that is $70.5 million. So that will be additional revenue going to the players that they wouldn't have received without the playoff expansion.
Starting in 2021, the players will get at least 48% of all league revenue, and that figure could get higher depending on how the league does in negotiating new TV deals. Once the league moves to a 17-game season, the players' share of revenue includes a "media kicker," which constitutes an additional share of revenue based on the size of the TV contracts. According to the NFLPA memo, if the league's TV revenues increase by 60%, the players' share of revenue increases to 48.5%. That share can climb as high as 48.8% if the league's TV revenues increase by 120% or more, and it cannot be reduced via "stadium credits" -- meaning that any money the owners take off the top of the revenue pile for stadium construction and renovation cannot push the players' share of revenue below 48% (or whatever the media kicker brings it to) during the life of the deal.
The new deal also will give the players 70% of incremental revenue from the league's Los Angeles Stadium project, meaning 70% of any revenue that exceeds projections in any given year. And they will get a share of revenues from legal gambling operations conducted in stadiums, whether that gambling is on NFL football or other sports.
