Urban Meyer calls out NFL, NBA All-Star games amid 4 Nations Face-Off

Urban Meyer is not a fan of the NFL and NBA All-Star games but loves what the NHL has done with its All-Star format this year. On The Triple Option, Meyer shared his thoughts on the NFL and NBA All-Star games while talking about hockey.

“The toughest, most athletic guys in all sport might be hockey players,” Meyer said. “When I saw what they’re doing on ice, you can’t do that on firm ground. …Think about this, NBA and NFL, their All-Star games you really can’t watch. They’re not really All-Star games anymore. I can’t watch that. Hockey makes the decision to do that.”

The NHL made a big change to its All-Star weekend as there is no traditional All-Star game this year. With the 2026 Winter Olympics around the corner, the NHL introduced the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. USA, Canada, Finland and Sweden participated in the tournament that featured only NHL players. The championship game will be played on Thursday between USA and Canada.

Urban Meyer shares more on his love for hockey

Meyer then talked about the three fights between USA and Canada when they faced each other for the first time in the tournament. “I’m a huge hockey fan, I’m a huge patriot,” Meyer said. I beleive in our country, and if someone boos our national anthem, they should throw the gloves off.”

The NFL and NBA have changed their All-Star games over the years. For the last few seasons, the NFL has had the Pro Bowl Games where players compete in a series of events and it ends with a flag football game. The NBA had four teams compete in a tournament, similar to what the NHL has done this year.

Professional All-Star games have had issues finding its audeince for various reasons. For this year’s Pro Bowl, ratings hit a new low as the flag football game averaged just 4.7 million viewers across  ABC, ESPN, and Disney XD. It’s the lowest audience ever for the all-star game (excluding the COVID year).

“I think the conclusion was that the game itself, doesn’t work,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in May 2022. “And that we needed to find a different way to celebrate our players. Celebrate the fact that, these being our Pro Bowler players, the best players in our league, and give them an opportunity to celebrate that with our fans. We talked an awful lot about some of the events around the Pro Bowl that are really extremely popular, whether it’s the quarterback challenge or some of the other events, so those are things that we’ll probably build on.”