NFL Demise Watch 2018: Revenue numbers are in and they're shocking
Somehow, some way, the NFL is slowly starting to embody Jason Voorhees of “Friday the 13th” fame.
Despite dealing with controversy after controversy, the NFL just broke another record in regards to their revenue, according to ESPN.
The NFL distributed $8 billion to teams via revenue sharing in 2017, easily eclipsing the previous record of $7.8 billion from 2016.
Each NFL team received $255 million through the revenue sharing.
Much of the information was gleaned from the Green Bay Packers’ publicly accessible records. The Packers are publicly owned and occasionally sell shares, so their records are available to the general public.
The numbers are truly mind-boggling.
The NFL saw a nearly 10 percent decrease in its TV ratings last season. The poor viewership even resulted in the league providing refunds to some of its advertisers after the season.
Even anecdotally, it’s virtually impossible to find anyhting NFL-related on social media without seeing a deluge of “Boycott NFL” comments.
And yet, none of that mattered, at least in terms of the bottom line. One of the only logical conclusions to draw is that fewer NFL fans were spending far more money than in previous years.
Part of that could certainly be general inflation. Television packages such as “NFL Sunday Ticket” and “NFL Red Zone” are more expensive than they’ve ever been. Other NFL merchandise, such as jerseys and video games, are also more expensive.
Reinforcing the idea of fewer people spending more money is the Packers’ local income. Green Bay generated $199 million in local income last season. However, Packers president Mark Murphy noted that while the $199 million figure is a 0.8 percent increase in income, the Packers saw fewer overall visitors to Lambeau Field and the Packers Hall of Fame than in years past.
The NFL has had to deal with frustration from people all across the political spectrum, an issue it has rarely ever had to deal with in the past.
There are many Americans who are offended over the anthem protests sparked by Colin Kaepernick in 2016. Many find it highly offensive to the flag, military and police officers.
There are also Americans angry with the NFL over the perceived “blackballing” of Kaepernick, who remains unsigned. In fact, Kaepernick is currently embroiled in a collusion grievance against the league.
Even outside of political issues, there is a growing concern with many fans over the long-term effects of head trauma in the league.They can’t support the NFL for strictly moral reasons.
So, for now, the NFL can roll around in its Scrooge McDuck money vault. But the league’s current trajectory isn’t promising and the league would be wise not to assume that their current success is indicative of any future results.
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