Salary cap for 2018 could exceed $179 million

[Prime Time]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...t-least-178-million-could-exceed-179-million/

Salary cap is expected to be at least $178 million, could exceed $179 million
Posted by Mike Florio on February 25, 2018

With the new league year approaching, the NFL and NFL Players Association soon will be finalizing the salary cap number for 2018. In December, the NFL projected a range of $174.2 million to $178.1 million for the cap.

As often is the case, the actual salary cap likely will exceed those projections.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the cap will at least be $178 million. It also could exceed $179 million.

The specific number, generally driven by revenues in the prior years, ultimately becomes the product of negotiation between the NFL and NFLPA. Last year, the parties set the cap at $168 million.

The cap has been experiencing significant growth in recent years, even with a decline in TV ratings. With the Thursday night broadcast package spiking from $450 million to at least $550 million annually as of 2018, the increases likely will continue.

 

[OldSchool]

Great for now but how long can it keep climbing so fast. It's going to be interesting to see what happens in 3-4 years.

 

[dieterbrock]

Bbbbbbut viewership is down, right

 

[OldSchool]

Bbbbbbut viewership is down, right

They are, fortunately contracts and sponsorships are already signed so it isn't affecting the leagues revenue yet.

 

[Boston Ram]

They are, fortunately contracts and sponsorships are already signed so it isn't affecting the leagues revenue yet.

Hard to quantify either way with so many streaming options. Personally I find it hard to believe viewership is down. I don’t know if one person who has stopped watching. But what do I know lol

 

[nighttrain]

i dont believe they count streamers
train

 

[dieterbrock]

They are, fortunately contracts and sponsorships are already signed so it isn't affecting the leagues revenue yet.

No way revenue is going up with viewership down. Just can’t quantify viewers any more

 

[OldSchool]

Hard to quantify either way with so many streaming options. Personally I find it hard to believe viewership is down. I don’t know if one person who has stopped watching. But what do I know lol

No way revenue is going up with viewership down. Just can’t quantify viewers any more

Both of these statements have nothing to do with what I said. That being said you're right there isn't a way to count streaming viewers. What I said was the TV contracts and league sponsorship contracts are already set so for right now leagues TV revenues won't change. The TV partners revenues absolutely will. And yet even with those ratings going down the NFL just signed Fox to do Thursday night football for $650 million a year beating the last contract which was at $450 million a year.

 

[Boston Ram]

Both of these statements have nothing to do with what I said. That being said you're right there isn't a way to count streaming viewers. What I said was the TV contracts and league sponsorship contracts are already set so for right now leagues TV revenues won't change. The TV partners revenues absolutely will. And yet even with those ratings going down the NFL just signed Fox to do Thursday night football for $650 million a year beating the last contract which was at $450 million a year.

Deiter said viewership was down sarcasticly and you responded to him it was. I wasn’t trying to bust chops.

That being said the ability to promote your programming through NFL games is worth a lot of money...see your example of Fox. So I think TV partners see tremendous value. Even if ratings dip, the gap between football and anything else on TV is huge.

I agree at some point it will level out somewhat, but football is so far ahead of any TV programming that in our lifetime I don’t see it dying. I’m 50, football will be king when I am gone......just my guess.

 

[Akrasian]

Viewership may be down (as is viewership of everything on tv) but each viewer for sports broadcasts is increasingly valuable - it's the one class of show that is almost always watched live, without commercials being fast forwarded. That means advertisers are willing to pay more per viewer than for all the alternatives.

If you want to reach a national audience, sports is the way to go - and the NFL is still the king for that.

At some point viewership will decline faster than the rise of value per sports viewer - but we haven't reached that yet, obviously. And it is likely years, maybe decades, away.

 

[jrry32]

Viewership may be down (as is viewership of everything on tv) but each viewer for sports broadcasts is increasingly valuable - it's the one class of show that is almost always watched live, without commercials being fast forwarded. That means advertisers are willing to pay more per viewer than for all the alternatives.

If you want to reach a national audience, sports is the way to go - and the NFL is still the king for that.

At some point viewership will decline faster than the rise of value per sports viewer - but we haven't reached that yet, obviously. And it is likely years, maybe decades, away.

And if the NFL branches out and starts to use the internet better, it'll put it off even longer.

 

[Prime Time]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/02/26/half-of-league-spent-above-the-cap-in-2017/

Half of league spent above the cap in 2017
Posted by Mike Florio on February 26, 2018

Far more important than the annual salary cap is the actual cash spent each year, by every team. Last year, with the cap at $167 million, half of the teams spent more than the cap, and another half of the teams were under it.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, teams collectively spent $5.274 billion in 2017, an average of 98.69-percent of the total cap. The highest spenders were the Lions, at $204.46 million, or 122.4 percent of the cap.

At the other end were the Cowboys, who spent only $115.65 million. That’s only 69.26 percent of the cap.

The difference between cash and cap comes from prorated bonuses paid out in past year (for those currently spending under the cap in cash spending) or prorated bonuses paid out in the current year (for those currently spending over it).

Here’s the full list of cash spent in 2017:

1. Lions, $204.46 million (122.4 percent).

2. Panthers, $198.76 million (119.02 percent).

3. Packers, $183.23 million (109.72 percent).

4. Jaguars, $181.44 million (108.65 percent).

5. Dolphins, $179.43 million (107.44 percent).

6. Bears, $179.23 million (107.32 percent).

7. Browns, $177.1 million (106.05 percent).

8. 49ers, $174.57 million (104.53 percent).

9. Falcons, $173.88 million (104.12 percent).

10. Washington, $173.78 million (104.06 percent).

11. Raiders, $173.29 million (103.76 percent).

12. Vikings, $172.86 million (103.51 percent).

13. Eagles, $170.64 million (102.18 percent).

14. Patriots, $168.97 million (101.18 percent).

15. Seahawks, $168.61 million (100.96 percent).

16. Cardinals, $167.86 million (100.51 percent).

17. Steelers, $165.07 million (98.85 percent).

18. Titans, $164.24 million (98.35 percent).

19. Giants, $162.64 million (97.39 percent).

20. Bengals, $160.81 million (96.29 percent).

21. Chargers, $160.58 million (96.15 percent).

22. Rams, $159.2 million (95.33 percent).

23. Buccaneers, $156.87 million (93.93 percent).

24. Saints, $155.93 million (93.37 percent).

25. Broncos, $152.55 million (91.35 percent).

26. Bills, $150.59 million (90.15 percent).

27. Ravens, $149.28 million (89.39 percent).

28. Texans, $144.04 million (86.25 percent).

29. Colts, $143.41 million (85.88 percent).

30. Jets, $143.08 million (85.68 percent).

31. Chiefs, $141.99 million (85.02 percent).

32. Cowboys, $115.657 million (69.26 percent).

 

[nighttrain]

is there a penalty for overspending, and what is it ?
train

 

[DaveFan'51]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...t-least-178-million-could-exceed-179-million/

Salary cap is expected to be at least $178 million, could exceed $179 million
Posted by Mike Florio on February 25, 2018

With the new league year approaching, the NFL and NFL Players Association soon will be finalizing the salary cap number for 2018. In December, the NFL projected a range of $174.2 million to $178.1 million for the cap.

As often is the case, the actual salary cap likely will exceed those projections.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the cap will at least be $178 million. It also could exceed $179 million.

The specific number, generally driven by revenues in the prior years, ultimately becomes the product of negotiation between the NFL and NFLPA. Last year, the parties set the cap at $168 million.

The cap has been experiencing significant growth in recent years, even with a decline in TV ratings. With the Thursday night broadcast package spiking from $450 million to at least $550 million annually as of 2018, the increases likely will continue.

With all these increases why can't the increase the size of the "Game Day Roster" to the Full 53 man Roster!?!

 

[OldSchool]

is there a penalty for overspending, and what is it ?
train

Not really for this report. The tracks all bonuses paid out as well as base pay. The reason some teams are so high over is big contracts signed. Take the Lions, they signed Stanford to an extension that included $50 million signing bonus. They paid that at signing so for this report the whole thing is added. For the yearly salary cap it’s prorated. There’s your difference and why there’s no penalty for being over on this figure.

 

[A.J. Hicks]

Hard to quantify either way with so many streaming options. Personally I find it hard to believe viewership is down. I don’t know if one person who has stopped watching. But what do I know lol

I still watch. But if it's through a european server on my computer that wouldn't count as viewership, right?

I just wish they would offer, like the NBA does, packages that you can buy and stream your team.

I think it's like 120 for the whole season and I can stream every Jazz game.

I wouldn't have a problem paying for a streaming subscription for my team. The problem that I have is that I cut the TV service out of my home. (Still pay for Netflix and Amazon Prime)

So I stream games on Sundays and I pay for NFL rewind so I can rewatch games.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

How much was the cap predicted to be when the Rams were said to be 40 million under it?