How Much Revenue Did The NFL Make in 2023?

Highlights

Over the course of the 2023 season, the NFL made a ton of money.
The NFL’s total revenue came in at $13 billion.
Each NFL team ended up being awarded slightly more than $400 million.

When it comes to the financial aspect of major American sports, we know that there is one giant in the landscape, and there has been for some time now. The NFL.

Football has become America’s biggest pastime, and with its multitude of international games in recent years, the sport has only become more advanced in terms of international fandom. Something that comes with all of that fandom is money, and massive amounts of it.

Massive amounts of money are exactly what the NFL made during the course of the 2023 season.

Reporting from Sportico indicated that the league made $13 billion during the 2023 season. That money ended up being split among all 32 NFL franchises, with each franchise receiving slightly over $400 million.

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How Does the NFL Make This Much Money?

The NFL has several ways in which this money comes in.

NFL shield on the field at Caesars Superdome. — Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

There are a few different avenues in which the NFL is able to earn this money. It can come through media rights, league sponsorships, as well as shared revenue and royalties from league affiliates and subsidizers, such as NFL Properties, NFL International and NFL Enterprises.

NFL Properties is the merchandising and licensing arm of the league, as they describe themselves.
NFL International is in charge of growing the game worldwide, by hosting international games as well as development programs.
NFL Enterprises describes itself as ‘operating and promoting professional and semi-professional athletic clubs and events. All three of these contribute to the revenue reported here.

A massive portion of this shared revenue comes through the league’s media deals. The league has contracts with FOX, ESPN, CBS, NBC, Amazon and YouTube.

The league makes money through their many sponsorships, such as Gatorade, Visa, Campbell Soup, and FedEx, as well as Oakley’s and Lowe’s, who each agreed to terms with the league recently.

The $404 million payout to each team is also the highest it’s ever been.

It’s up 6-8% from 2022, depending on the accounting methods each team uses.

It’s gone up a whopping 115% in the past decade.

At this point, the amount of money each team is getting through this shared revenue system goes up every year, and it’s reasonable to expect each team to receive even more next year.

Turns out, owning an NFL team can be kind of profitable.

Source: Sportico

All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.