How Much Money Does the NFL Make?

How much money does the NFL make? A lot. In fact, the NFL is the most profitable sports league in the world. Here’s a breakdown of the league’s revenue and where it comes from.

Revenue

The NFL is a business and it makes a lot of money. That much is clear. How much money does the NFL make? That’s a harder question to answer because the NFL doesn’t release its financials to the public. However, we can make some educated guesses based on the information that is available. Here’s a look at the NFL’s revenue.

Television

TV is the lifeblood of the NFL. The league inked a nine-year, $27 billion deal with Fox, CBS and NBC in 2011 that runs through the 2022 season. That’s an average of about $3 billion per year and nearly triple the $1 billion per year the NFL was averaging before that deal.

Each network pays an average of $1.1 billion per year for the rights to show NFL games on their network, according to media reports. That comes out to about $4.4 billion total per year from just those three networks. ESPN pays a separate amount for its “Monday Night Football” package, but that number has not been made public.

In addition to broadcast rights fees, the NFL also earns revenue from television ads, which are some of the most expensive on TV. According to Ad Age data, NBC charged advertisers an average of $5 million for a 30-second ad during “Sunday Night Football” in 2017 — up from $4.5 million in 2016 and $4 million in 2015. Fox charged advertisers an average of $550,000 for a 30-second ad during its “Thursday Night Football” games in 2017 — up from just $45,000 in 2015, when it first started airing live games on Thursdays..

Merchandise

National Football League merchandise sales totaled $1.6 billion in wholesale revenue in 2018, a 7% increase over 2017, according to licensees of the NFL. Retail sales of NFL goods are much higher, but exact numbers are not disclosed by the league. NFLShop.com is the official online store of the NFL and generated $1 billion in online sales in 2018. The league also reports that more than 60% of its fans are female.

The NFL has licensing agreements with more than 500 companies, including Nike (NKE), Reebok, Fanatics, outerwear maker VF Corp. (VFC) and many others that produce a wide range of products, from jerseys and T-shirts to tailgating gear and memorabilia. The NFL also has merchandising relationships with Wal-Mart (WMT), Target (TGT) and Amazon (AMZN).

Tickets

The average ticket price for an NFL game was $93.58 in 2016, up 3.1% from the previous year, and the highest average ticket price in five years. The most expensive tickets are for games played by the New England Patriots, with an average resale price of $462, followed by the Dallas Cowboys ($353) and the Green Bay Packers ($316). The least expensive tickets are for games played by the Cleveland Browns, with an average resale price of $110.

Premium seating (club seats and suites) is a significant source of revenue for NFL teams. In 2016, the average price of a club seat was $386 per game, while suites ranged in price from $2,500 to $4,000 per game.

Expenses

The anonymous source told Wall Street Journal that the NFL pays close to $18 million a year in combined expenses for its game officials. That’s an increase of $5 million from what it cost the league in 2011, when the most recent labor deal was struck. The NFL has not made any public comments about the numbers in the story.

Player Salaries

In 2017, the NFL brought in a reported $14 billion in revenue. That’s a lot of money, and a good chunk of it goes to the players in the form of salaries and bonuses. In 2018, the average NFL player salary was $2.7 million, but that number is skewed by a few high-paid superstars. The median salary for an NFL player was $860,000 in 2018.

Rookies make far less than veteran players. In 2018, the NFL minimum salary for rookies was $480,000, but most rookies sign contracts for more than that. The average salary for a rookie drafted in the first round was just over $10 million in 2018. salaries increase each year as players become more experienced. After four years in the league, players are eligible for unrestricted free agency, where they can command much higher salaries on the open market.

The highest-paid player in the NFL is currently Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who signed a four-year contract extension worth $140 million in 2019. The average annual salary of Wilson’s contract is $35 million per year, which makes him the highest-paid player in NFL history on a per-year basis.

Stadiums

The cost of building a new NFL stadium has skyrocketed in recent years. In 2000, the price tag for a new stadium was an average of $419 million. By 2016, that number had jumped to an average of $1.6 billion.

The most expensive stadium ever built is the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which cost $1.7 billion to construct. The least expensive stadium is the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, which cost $700 million.

As prices have increased, the size of stadiums has also grown. The average NFL stadium now covers 9 acres and can seat 70,000 fans.

Marketing

The NFL has several large marketing partners that it has agreements with. The biggest agreement is with Nike, who signed a five-year deal with the NFL in March of 2020 to be the official on-field apparel provider for all 32 teams, replacing former partner Adidas. The agreement is worth $1.1 billion per year, and gives Nike control of all sideline apparel, including game-day jerseys and base layer clothing. The NFL also has agreements with EA Sports for the exclusive rights to create NFL video games, as well as a partnership with Verizon to stream games exclusively on their platform. These deals are worth $400 million and $250 million per year, respectively.

Profit

The National Football League is a nonprofit organization, meaning that it does not have to pay taxes on the money it earns. The NFL made a profit of $10.7 billion in 2018. The majority of this profit comes from the television rights to broadcast games. The NFL also makes money from ticket sales, merchandise, and sponsorships.

Revenue – Expenses

Revenue
NFL teams generate revenue from many sources, including ticket sales, concessions, parking, merchandise sales, television contracts and sponsorships. In 2018, the average NFL team generated $377 million in revenue. The New England Patriots generated the most revenue of any team that year, bringing in $588 million.

Expenses
Player salaries and benefits are the biggest expenses for NFL teams, totaling $4.52 billion in 2018. Other expenses include coaches’ salaries ($2.39 billion), stadium expenses ($1.67 billion) and other operating expenses ($1.33 billion).

Other Income

In addition to the income from television rights, the NFL generates revenue from other sources, such as:
-Licensing agreements for the use of team logos and other NFL properties on products such as apparel and video games
-Ticket sales
-Parking and concessions at NFL stadiums
-Merchandise sales at NFLShop.com, the official online store of the NFL
-Income from stadium naming rights deals
-Investment income

Future Outlook

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league. It is the most popular sport in the United States. The NFL has 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is the highest level of professional football in the world. The Super Bowl is the biggest and most important game of the year. It is the annual championship game of the NFL.

Increasing Revenue

In the most recent year for which data is available, the NFL generated $12.8 billion in revenue. This was an 8% increase from the previous year and a new high for the league. The NFL’s revenue is growing because of an increase in television rights fees, sponsorship deals, and ticket sales.

TV rights fees are the largest source of revenue for the NFL. In 2014, the league signed new deals with CBS, FOX, and NBC that will run through 2022 and are worth a combined $3.1 billion per year. These deals represent a significant increase over the previous agreements, which were worth $1.9 billion per year. The NFL also generates revenue from its own television network, which is available in about 72 million homes.

Sponsorship deals are another important source of revenue for the NFL. In 2015, the league signed a 10-year deal with Verizon worth $1 billion. This deal gives Verizon exclusive digital rights to stream NFL games on mobile devices. The NFL also has sponsorship agreements with companies like Anheuser-Busch, Nike, and Papa John’s.

Ticket sales are also a significant source of revenue for the NFL. The average ticket price for an NFL game was $84 in 2015, up from $81 in 2014. The increase in ticket prices has helped to offset declining attendance at stadiums.

Decreasing Expenses

The main source of revenue for the NFL continues to be television. In 2012, the NFL made $4.27 billion in national television revenue and $1.32 billion from its deals with DirecTV and Sirius XM Radio. However, these numbers have been on the decline in recent years. In 2013, the NFL’s television revenues decreased by 2%, and its radio revenues decreased by 10%.

One reason for the decline in television revenue is the decrease in ratings. In 2017, the average viewership for an NFL game was down 7% from 2016 and down 18% from 2015. There are many possible explanations for the decline in ratings, including competition from other sports and entertainment options, as well as anthem protests by some players.

Another reason for the decline in revenue is the increasing cost of doing business. The NFL’s expenses have risen significantly in recent years, due to increases in player salaries, stadium costs, and other operational expenses. In 2017, the NFL’s expenses totaled $7.8 billion, up from $6.5 billion in 2013.

As a result of these trends, the NFL’s profits have declined in recent years. In 2013, the NFL made $10 billion in profit; by 2017, that number had fallen to $6 billion. The decline in profit has led to concerns about the future viability of the league