Pro Bowl Guide: Everything You Need To Know

Every year, the players seek to celebrate the best of the best in the Pro Bowl. Getting picked for a Pro Bowl outing is seen as prestigious in the NFL, with the event acting as its take on an all-star game.

Over the years, however, the Pro Bowl has struggled to garner an audience due to the inherent lack of competition in the core Pro Bowl game itself. Essentially being a friendly, players don’t want to get injured or injure each other.

Heading into the 2025 Pro Bowl Games, we have a much more diverse slate of events for the long weekend, from skills contests to a flag football game that’ll all be of interest in sports betting circles.

Here’s what you need to know about the NFL’s Pro Bowl event.

What is the Pro Bowl?

The Pro Bowl is an annual event that features the best players in both conferences of the NFL playing what used to be a regulation game of American football to find a winning Pro Bowl team.

On paper, the Pro Bowl is on the same level as the NHL, NBA, and MLB all-star games and weekends. Players nominated to the Pro Bowl hold it as a great honour, and Pro Bowl picks are still cited as indicators of quality.

The first Pro Bowl was held in 1939 as the NFL All-Star Game, changing to the Pro Bowl in 1951 and then to the Pro Bowl Games from 2023 onwards.

Nowadays, the Pro Bowl isn’t a single regulation game of American football. With Peyton Manning taking the helm via his Omaha Productions, the Pro Bowl now features skill contests and a culminating flag football game.

When is the Pro Bowl?

The annual Pro Bowl now takes place from Thursday to Sunday on the week before the Super Bowl. In 2025, that means that the Pro Bowl Games will be played on 30 January and 2 February.

Scheduling for the Pro Bowl has changed over the years. Up until 2010, it was a postseason feature, being a capper to the NFL campaign after the Super Bowl had concluded.

Now, the Pro Bowl takes place before the Super Bowl predominantly due to ratings. Many saw it as being anti-climactic with so much focus on the Super Bowl, while other all-star contests in major leagues occur midseason.

How are Players Picked for the Pro Bowl?

The players, coaches, and fans form a consensus vote to determine which players will be picked for the Pro Bowl. Votes from players, coaches, and fans each count as one-third of the final Pro Bowl selection results.

Fans get to vote from around the end of November to late December, while players and coaches will all be asked to submit their Pro Bowl votes at the end of December.

In total, 88 players will go to the Pro Bowl. Each conference will get an even share of the total pool, making for Pro Bowl teams of 44 players each, following a team composition of:

• Offence: 3 QBs, 3 RBs, 4 WRs, 3 OGs, 3 OTs, 2 TEs, 2 Cs, 1 FB
• Defence: 3 DT/NTs, 3 DEs, 3 OLBs, 2 MLBs, 1 FS, 2 SSs, 4 CBs
• Special Teams: 1 Long Snapper, Punter, Placekicker, Returner, and Special Teamer.

Do Super Bowl Players Play in the Pro Bowl?

Any players who feature for teams that will be going to the Super Bowl will not feature during the Pro Bowl Games. However, they can still be picked for the Pro Bowl as the voting concludes long before the NFL Playoffs.

This way, players can still receive the honour of being picked for the Pro Bowl, but fans who have their teams and props in the NFL betting for the big game won’t have to worry about them being fatigued by the Pro Bowl.

As an example, Patrick Mahomes has gone to four of the last five Super Bowls, up to Super Bowl LVIII, but actually records a Pro Bowl pick to his record in each of the last six seasons. Naturally, he didn’t play in four of those Pro Bowls.

Who Coaches the Pro Bowl Teams?

The 2025 Pro Bowl Games will see Eli Manning and Peyton Manning take charge of their conference Pro Bowl teams for the long weekend of skill contests and the flag football game.

Traditionally, the head coaches of the teams that made it to the Conference Championship games would lead their respective teams in the Pro Bowl.

Later, with the Pro Bowl being brought forward on the calendar, the Pro Bowl coaches became the head coaches who had the best regular season records but lost in the Divisional Playoff Round.

Since 2023, under the moniker of the Pro Bowl Games, the head coaches have been the Manning brothers. Although, their roles are listed as “honorary coaches,” with Eli taking the NFC and Peyton siding with the AFC.

What Happens at the Pro Bowl?

At the Pro Bowl, the best players in the league are celebrated and now compete in a whole slate of specialised skill contests before the conference-based teams battle it out in a game of flag football.

Following a similar formula to the NHL’s All-Star Games revitalisation efforts, the NFL switched from a traditional game to decide the winner of the Pro Bowl to flag football and skills contests in 2023.

Where there were some skills contests for a few of the final traditional Pro Bowls, with the Pro Bowl Games, there’s a much greater focus on these.

At the 2025 Pro Bowl Games, there’ll be Dodgeball, the Great Football Race, Helmet Harmony, Precision Passing, Punt Perfect, the Relay Race, Satisfying Catches, and Tug-of-War.

In the 2024 Pro Bowl Games, skill contests were dotted between the quarters of the main game. This way, players would win skill contests to improve their team’s score before getting back onto the field for the seven-on-seven flag football game.

It makes for a very distinct event from what the NFL usually puts on.

When and Where is the 2025 Pro Bowl?

The 2025 Pro Bowl Games are taking place on 30 January and 2 February 2025, showcasing two days of events. There will be eight skill competitions and the showcase flag football game to decide the winning team.

Thursday Skills Showdown will be shown live on TV from midnight on Friday, 31 January in the UK (or from 7pm ET on Thursday, 30 January) and won’t be a publically-attended event.

Sunday Pro Bowl Games Championship is an attended event and will start a bit earlier. This part of the event will be taking place at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, from 8pm UK time or 3pm ET on Sunday, 2 February.