How much did the NFL earn during the 2023-24 season?
As the most profitable professional sports league on the planet, it should come as no surprise that the NFL rakes in the big bucks but how much are we talking?
With the league currently facing the prospect of a class action lawsuit that could see it pay more than $20 billion in damages to consumers, executives will likely take some comfort in the fact that revenue has never been better and continues to increase.
The NFL is doing very well
There’s no need for a preamble here. The NFL is making a lot of money. In the last year alone, each team in the league earned $402.3 million in national revenue, according to reports. What that means is that when you spread that across the 32 franchises that make up the league, the organization as a whole pocketed a not-so-small $12.873 billion in national revenue. If you’re wondering, that figure represents an impressive 7.5% increase from what was generated in the previous year.
Needless to say, commissioner Roger Goodell and his colleagues are undoubtedly sitting pretty. It’s worth noting, however, that Goodell is reportedly aiming for an annual intake of $25 billion by 2027 which means there is still work to be done. With that in mind, one can understand why been consistently floating the idea of moving from a 17-game regular season to one that would see teams play 18. Yet, it’s got to be said that there are a few caveats inside that hefty sum. For starters, the Packers experienced a drop in profits, going from $68.6 million to $60.1 million. Even so, Packers CEO, Mark Murphy, was quick to quell fears, explaining that the profits are “in a fairly high range historically.”
Nonetheless, it can’t be denied The NFL’s national revenue increase will make players very happy as the knock-on effect will be a bumped-up salary cap. To be clear, this year will see teams operating under a cap of $224.8 million which is a $30 million increase on what they had to work with last year. On the other hand, the news simultaneously guarantees that fans will be hit even harder. As we know tickets and merchandise have never been more expensive and then there is the previously mentioned class action lawsuit which comes as a result of the exorbitant cost employed by streaming services that now have rights to broadcast games. Where does it end? We can’t say, but it’s going to cost a whole lot more before it does.