The 2021 NFL Pro Bowl, where all the NFL’s best players get together and compete in activities and a game, was supposed to be held in Las Vegas. Instead of playing in the Raider’s new stadium, the Pro Bowl will be held on Madden 21.

The Pro Bowl is set to take place on Sunday, January 31st. According to NFL.com, “EA SPORTS and the NFL will create a week-long series of matchups featuring celebrities, NFL Legends, current players, and streamers playing as the official Pro Bowl rosters in Madden NFL 21.” These matchups will culminate in an action-packed virtual Pro Bowl game played with 2021 Pro Bowl players facing off within Madden NFL 21.

The NFL first announced the Pro Bowl selections on December 21st. Some Highlights from the AFC side are the 2018 MVP Patrick Mahomes, 7th pick in the 2018 NFL draft Josh Allen, Derrick Henry who led the league in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, and all pro wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Tyreek Hill. Some players from the NFC are MVP Aaron Rodgers, Super Bowl winner Russell Wilson, wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins who had a game-winning catch against the Buffalo Bills, two-time defensive player of the year Aaron Donald, and the second pick of the 2020 draft Chase Young. The full list of Pro Bowlers is posted on NFL.com.

This year will be the first year since the 1949 Pro Bowl to be canceled in person. While it was canceled this year due to COVID-19, the NFL played an All-Star game called the Shamrock Bowl instead of the Pro Bowl in 1949. According to NFL.com, “EA SPORTS will be dropping new Pro Bowl content in-game so that players worldwide can play out the AFC vs. NFC matchup themselves…These virtual games will be available for fans to watch across a variety of platforms.”

EA Sports is hosting an event where a vote will go to a player of Madden 21 to be on the Pro Bowl mode if he scores a touchdown. There are only two available spots for the event. As maintained by EA Sports, “Every touchdown scored in online Head-to-Head matchups, both ranked and unranked, across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S by an eligible player will be counted as one vote for that player to join the Pro Bowl roster.” EA Sports.com has all the rules for this event listed. 

Originally, Madden 21 was released on August 28th, 2020, and the original price for the standard edition was about $60. Now, a copy of Madden 21 standard edition costs around $30 at Walmart.com, while the MVP edition is $60 and the deluxe edition is $50.

The 2021 Pro Bowl is something new and different. It is not like the past years with being in person, but it will be interesting to watch and see how it goes.