Revenue sharing splits up $6 billion in 2013
Posted by Mike Florio on July 11, 2014
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Since only the Packers must reveal their books, due to their non-stock stock ownership structure, the Packers’ annual report includes plenty of info both about the franchise and the league.
Darren Rovell of ESPN.com did some backwards math to determine that the $187.7 million received by the Packers in national revenue means that the league divided a whopping $6 billion among the 32 teams from April 1, 2013 through March 31, 2014.
That cash comes largely from the national TV contracts with NBC, ESPN, FOX, CBS, and DirecTV. The wireless deal with Verizon also pumps up the number, as does the 34-percent chunk of ticket sales that go to the visiting team in name, but that as a practical matter are pooled for revenue sharing.
The massive shared amount, which exceeds last year’s salary cap of $123 million by more than 50 percent, highlights the ongoing importance of the broadcast antitrust exemption. The federal law, passed decades ago, gives the NFL the ability to negotiate TV deals as a 32-business block, forcing networks that covet broadcasts of significant national interest to also take less attractive games involving less compelling teams.
If that exemption ever goes away, all teams would have to cut their own deals, and a handful of teams would make a killing. Which could make it tempting for some owners to not be all that upset if the exemption ever evaporates.
Still, revenue sharing levels the playing field, ensuring that the NFL won’t be split into a collections of haves and have nots.
Maybe that should be have mores, and have mosts.
NFL teams split $6B in revenue
Updated: July 10, 2014
By Darren Rovell | ESPN.com
NFL teams, for the first time, equally divided more than $6 billion in revenue last season.
That's according to financials released by the Green Bay Packers on Thursday afternoon.
The Packers said they received $187.7 million in national revenue, which is mostly derived from the league's television rights. The Packers' total represents 3.1 percent, or 1/32nd, of the overall pie.
Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy said the national revenue rose 4.3 percent from last year due in part to new carriage agreements with the NFL Network and additional revenue from Nike, the league's official uniform provider.
The national revenue dollars the Packers and the rest of the league's teams have received continue to climb over the years, with the total pie up 56 percent, factoring for inflation, since 2006.
The most significant jump will happen next season, as new television deals with each of the league's partners, along with the new CBS Thursday Night package, pushes the league's media revenue from the networks alone to an average of more than $5 billion a season.
That doesn't include the league's $1 billion a year contract with DirecTV, which expires at the end of the 2014 season and is currently being renegotiated.
As the only public team, the Packers are required to release revenue numbers, even though their more than 360,000 shareholders hold shares that don't have a resale value and aren't publicly traded.
The Packers' reported local revenue for this past season was $136.3 million, helped along by the new 7,000-seat south end zone, which added $8 million in tickets and concession revenue and $2 million in sponsorship.
Local revenues for the Packers were $136.3 million, up 6.4 percent from last season. Factoring in expenses of $298.5 million, the Packers pulled in a $25.5 million profit, down nearly 53 percent from last season.
Murphy said the main reason for the decline were player costs of $171 million. The team signed big contracts with Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers and Sam Shields, parts of which were included in this fiscal year.
Posted by Mike Florio on July 11, 2014
Since only the Packers must reveal their books, due to their non-stock stock ownership structure, the Packers’ annual report includes plenty of info both about the franchise and the league.
Darren Rovell of ESPN.com did some backwards math to determine that the $187.7 million received by the Packers in national revenue means that the league divided a whopping $6 billion among the 32 teams from April 1, 2013 through March 31, 2014.
That cash comes largely from the national TV contracts with NBC, ESPN, FOX, CBS, and DirecTV. The wireless deal with Verizon also pumps up the number, as does the 34-percent chunk of ticket sales that go to the visiting team in name, but that as a practical matter are pooled for revenue sharing.
The massive shared amount, which exceeds last year’s salary cap of $123 million by more than 50 percent, highlights the ongoing importance of the broadcast antitrust exemption. The federal law, passed decades ago, gives the NFL the ability to negotiate TV deals as a 32-business block, forcing networks that covet broadcasts of significant national interest to also take less attractive games involving less compelling teams.
If that exemption ever goes away, all teams would have to cut their own deals, and a handful of teams would make a killing. Which could make it tempting for some owners to not be all that upset if the exemption ever evaporates.
Still, revenue sharing levels the playing field, ensuring that the NFL won’t be split into a collections of haves and have nots.
Maybe that should be have mores, and have mosts.
NFL teams split $6B in revenue
Updated: July 10, 2014
By Darren Rovell | ESPN.com
NFL teams, for the first time, equally divided more than $6 billion in revenue last season.
That's according to financials released by the Green Bay Packers on Thursday afternoon.
The Packers said they received $187.7 million in national revenue, which is mostly derived from the league's television rights. The Packers' total represents 3.1 percent, or 1/32nd, of the overall pie.
Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy said the national revenue rose 4.3 percent from last year due in part to new carriage agreements with the NFL Network and additional revenue from Nike, the league's official uniform provider.
The national revenue dollars the Packers and the rest of the league's teams have received continue to climb over the years, with the total pie up 56 percent, factoring for inflation, since 2006.
The most significant jump will happen next season, as new television deals with each of the league's partners, along with the new CBS Thursday Night package, pushes the league's media revenue from the networks alone to an average of more than $5 billion a season.
That doesn't include the league's $1 billion a year contract with DirecTV, which expires at the end of the 2014 season and is currently being renegotiated.
As the only public team, the Packers are required to release revenue numbers, even though their more than 360,000 shareholders hold shares that don't have a resale value and aren't publicly traded.
The Packers' reported local revenue for this past season was $136.3 million, helped along by the new 7,000-seat south end zone, which added $8 million in tickets and concession revenue and $2 million in sponsorship.
Local revenues for the Packers were $136.3 million, up 6.4 percent from last season. Factoring in expenses of $298.5 million, the Packers pulled in a $25.5 million profit, down nearly 53 percent from last season.
Murphy said the main reason for the decline were player costs of $171 million. The team signed big contracts with Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers and Sam Shields, parts of which were included in this fiscal year.
