Tyler Stearns
The NFL is the world's most profitable league. Every year, we see the pinnacle of the sport (the Super Bowl) reach viewership levels similar to the amount of US citizens who vote for the presidential election. Though most viewers live in the US, the league has started to expand its audience in recent years. The NFL has begun playing games in England, Germany, Mexico, and now Brazil. It will take some time for people from other countries to fully engage in the NFL, especially considering the significance of soccer in Europe and South America.
The league has some ambitious plans for the future. Roger Goodell wants to increase the season to 18 weeks, add a bye week, remove two preseason games, and push the Super Bowl to President's Day weekend (meaning the game would be followed by a federal holiday). Adding another game would significantly increase revenue, and the addition of another bye week would make the season longer and allow for more games.
The NFL currently makes nearly $18 Billion per year in revenue. This comes from stadium attendance, merchandise, advertisements, and the Super Bowl. The league hopes to increase yearly revenue to $27 Billion by 2027, a goal that seems attainable especially considering the growth the NFL has had since the early 2000s (barring 2020).
The NFL is very reliant on stars. There are teams in the past who have been extremely irrelevant and haven't had a major economic impact on the league (i.e. the Cleveland Browns). Some parity has been achieved amongst all teams in the league as we don't see immense disparity between the top and bottom teams anymore. However, the league needs to continue to increase roster equality. One way to do this is to slightly raise the salary cap. As inflation rises and certain positions become more expensive, we see teams spending more money on individual players than ever before. The quarterback position has become so expensive that players like Daniel Jones, an average quarterback in the NFL, are making around $40 Million per year. Recently, Trevor Lawrence signed a 5-year, $275 Million extension as the Jaguars quarterbacks. Teams can not keep paying their stars this amount of money and expect to have a solid team around them.
Personnel issues are not of the utmost importance to the league, but they do matter in the long run. Maintaining a solid product should be a major priority for the NFL. There aren't any signs of economic regression, but there are some small things that can be fixed. Overall, though, the NFL is an extremely well-run business.
Creds: Investopedia, Statista, Wikipedia
Now the NFL is being sued in a 4 billion antitrust lawsuit 😮