How Do NFL Owners Make Money?

How do NFL owners make money? It’s a question that’s been asked a lot lately, and for good reason. With the league’s popularity at an all-time high, it’s only natural that people want to know how the owners are raking in the cash. Here’s a look at how they do it.

Revenue Streams

NFL owners make money from a variety of sources, including but not limited to ticket sales, merchandise sales, television contracts, and stadium naming rights. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at each of these revenue streams and how they contribute to an NFL owner’s bottom line.

Ticket Sales

Ticket sales are the most important revenue stream for NFL teams, accounting for 43 percent of total league revenue in 2017, according to Forbes. Individual ticket prices vary by team and stadium, but the average price of an NFL ticket was $102 in 2017, up from $81 in 2009, according to Team Marketing Report.

While some fans are able to attend games by buying tickets directly from the team, the majority of tickets are sold through the NFL’s official ticketing partner, Ticketmaster. The NFL also has partnerships with StubHub and SeatGeek, which allow fans to buy and sell tickets online.

Merchandise Sales

Merchandise sales are a key revenue stream for NFL owners. NFL team merchandise is sold in a variety of outlets, including team stores, sports stores, and online. NFL owners receive a percentage of the revenue from the sale of team merchandise. In addition, NFL owners receive a percentage of the revenue from the sale of licensed merchandise, such as jerseys and other team-branded items.

Television Contracts

Television contracts are the largest source of revenue for NFL owners. In 2014, the league signed new nine-year agreements with CBS, Fox, and NBC that will pay a combined $3.1 billion per year through 2022. That’s an increase of roughly 60% over the previous TV deal.

CBS and Fox will each pay $1.1 billion per year for the right to broadcast Sunday afternoon games, while NBC will shell out $950 million per year for Sunday Night Football. ESPN will continue to pay $1.9 billion per year for Monday Night Football through 2021.

Expenses

The biggest expense for an NFL team is player salaries and bonuses. This cost has been increasing steadily over the past few years and shows no signs of slowing down. In addition to player salaries, teams also have to pay for coaches, trainers, front office staff, and stadium operations. All of these costs can add up quickly and eat into an NFL team’s profits.

Player Salaries

Player salaries are the biggest expense for any NFL team. In 2019, the average player salary was $2.7 million. The salaries of the top players can be much higher. For example, in 2019, quarterbacks Tom Brady and Carson Wentz were each scheduled to make $27 million.

Player salaries are not the only expense for NFL teams. They also have to pay for coaches, trainers, support staff, and other personnel. They also have to pay for travel expenses and to rent practice facilities and stadium space. In addition, they have to pay taxes and fees to the NFL.

Stadium Maintenance and Upkeep

While the cost of building a new stadium is often shouldered by taxpayers, the ongoing maintenance andupkeep costs fall on the team’s owner. These costs can be significant, as most stadiums are only used for 10-12 events per year. In addition to regular cleaning and upkeep, there are also costs associated with website and social media upkeep, as well as advertising and security.

Coaching Staff Salaries

The first thing to understand is that NFL owners do not make their money from the team’s performance on the field. In fact, most of the revenue that an NFL team generates is split evenly among all teams in the league. The main source of income for an NFL owner is the sale of personal seat licenses (PSLs) and season tickets, which can amount to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Other sources of revenue for NFL owners include corporate sponsorships, concessions, and merchandise sales. But the most important thing to remember is that an NFL owner’s primary source of income is not from winning games or even from making it to the Super Bowl. In short, NFL owners make their money by selling tickets and PSLs to fans who want to see their team play.

Profit

Though the National Football League (NFL) is a not-for-profit organisation, its owners are very much in business to make money. In fact, they are some of the richest people in the world. In this article, we will take a look at how NFL owners make their money and how much they are worth.

Revenue – Expenses = Profit

Revenue:
TV contracts – these cover the cost of broadcasting games, and are shared equally among teams
Stadium naming rights – some teams sell the naming rights to their home stadiums for a one-off or annual payment
Sponsorship – companies pay to have their logo displayed on team shirts, in stadiums, or on other team property
Ticket sales – fans attending games generate revenue for teams
Concessions – fans buying food and drink at games also generate revenue for teams

Expenses:
Player salaries and bonuses – by far the biggest cost for any team, as NFL players are some of the highest-paid athletes in the world
Stadium maintenance and operations – keeping a stadium running smoothly can be a significant cost
Coaching staff salaries – NFL head coaches can earn millions of dollars per year
General staff salaries – from front office personnel to those working behind the scenes, salaries make up a sizable chunk of team expenses
Travel costs – teams have to pay for their travel to away games

Profit Margins

How much do NFL owners make?

This is a difficult question to answer due to the fact that most teams are privately owned and their financials are not readily available. However, we can look at some publically available information and infer how much profit NFL owners might be making.

According to Forbes, the average NFL team is worth $2.75 billion. Operating income (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for the NFL was $339 million in 2017, up from $288 million in 2016.

Assuming that all 32 teams made an equal amount of operating income, that would give each team an operating income of $10.6 million. Given that the average team is worth $2.75 billion, that would give each team a profit margin of just under 0%.

However, it’s important to note that not all teams are worth the same amount or make the same amount of operating income. The Cowboys, for example, are worth $4.8 billion and made $365 million in operating income in 2017. That’s a profit margin of just over 7%.

So while we can’t say for sure how much profit NFL owners are making, we can infer that it varies widely from team to team depending on a number of factors such as team value and market size.