What Percent of the NFL is Black in 2021?
Contents
African Americans make up 70% of the NFL.
Introduction
In 2021, 70 percent of NFL players are black. This number has remained relatively constant over the past decade, though it has slowly risen from 63 percent in 2001. The increase is likely due to a combination of factors, including the league’s efforts to promote diversity and the growing popularity of football among black Americans.
The History of the NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is one of the four major North American professional sports leagues, the highest professional level of American football in the world.
The NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA) before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League (AFL) in 1966, and the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that season; the merger was completed in 1970. Today, the NFL has the highest average attendance of any professional sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in America.
Black players were excluded from playing in the NFL until 1946. In 2021, approximately 70% of NFL players are black.
The Current NFL
The Players
The NFL is currently 70% black. In 2021, the NFL is made up of 1024 total players: 714 black players, 135 white players, 61 Latino players, and 14 other players.
The NFL has been slowly becoming more diverse over the years. In 2010, the league was 67% black, while in 2001 the league was 71% black.
However, while the NFL may be slowly becoming more racially diverse, coaching staffs and front offices remain predominantly white. In 2020, only 4 of the 32 head coaches in the NFL were black, and only 2 of the 32 general managers were black.
The Coaches
In the NFL today, there are only four black head coaches out of the 32 teams. This number does not accurately reflect the percentage of black NFL players. In 2021, 70% of NFL players are black, but only 12.5% of NFL coaches are black. The Rooney Rule was put into place in order to try and increase the number of minority coaches in the NFL, but it has not been very effective.
The Owners
Demographics of The Owners of the National Football League teams as of 2021 . There are 32 NFL teams, and they are all owned by billionaires. 70% of the NFL owners are White males, while 30% are people of color – 1 Owner is Black, 1 is Latino, and 1 is Asian. The average net worth of an NFL owner is $8.3 billion.
In 2021, the National Football League will have its second African American majority owner in history – David Tepper, who owns the Carolina Panthers. Among the league’s other notable owners are Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys (the most valuable sports franchise in the world), Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots, and Shahid Khan of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Future of the NFL
The NFL is a predominately black league. In 2021, 70 percent of the NFL is black. This is up from 67 percent in 2020 and 63 percent in 2019. The trend is clear: the NFL is becoming increasingly black.
What does this mean for the future of the league? It’s difficult to say. Some have suggested that the NFL will eventually become a majority-black league. Others have argue that the league will continue to be predominately black, but that the percentage of black players will slowly decline as the league expands its global reach and attracts more players from other countries.
Whatever the future holds, one thing is certain: the NFL will continue to be a league dominated by black athletes.
Conclusion
The data demonstrates that the NFL is becoming slightly less black over time. In 2010, 67% of NFL players were black. In 2021, 64% of NFL players are black. While the trend is not statistically significant, it is worth noting that the NFL has become marginally less black over the past decade.
