I'm not actually all that bothered by the current NFL overtime structure. The numbers bear out that the team that wins the coin toss is more likely to win the game, but that is what you'd expect, after all, and the advantage isn't all that staggering. I'm okay with the status quo.
That said, I like the thinking behind this idea:
we throw out the coin toss, and in its place, to determine which team gets the football first, we have a silent auction.
Each coach writes down the yard-line at which they’d be willing to accept the ball, and they put their bid in a sealed envelope. Both coaches hand the envelopes to an official at midfield, and the coach who’s written down the least advantageous yard-line gets the ball, at the yard-line he's written down.
Anytime you can replace a coin toss with strategic bidding, I'm all for it.
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