The NFL scarcely had any fans in the seats over the past season, but team values are booming.

The average team value grew 14% in the last year to $3.48 billion, according to Forbes. 

Every team’s value increased by 10-20% in the past year, except for the Super Bowl-winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whose value grew 29% to $2.94 billion — still only 21st in the league.

The value was driven by the NFL’s string of high-value deals as media companies seek a reliable audience for America’s most popular sport.

• The league signed $113 billion in new media deals that run from 2023-33 (Amazon’s begins in 2022). Payouts to each team from these deals will grow steadily from $220 million this year to $377 million in 2032.
• The league’s venture wing, 32 Equity, has brought in annual returns over 30% on average since its launch in 2013. Its investments include Fanatics, Skillz, and Genius Sports.
• The Dallas Cowboys retained the top spot with a $6.5 billion valuation. The Denver Broncos, which may be sold in the next year, cracked the top 10 at $3.75 billion.

The league is reportedly planning to create a new company with some of its media and betting assets. The NFL would own the majority of the venture and bring in outside investors such as SoftBank, Apple, Twitter, and sovereign wealth funds.

ViacomCBS saw promising growth in flagship streaming service Paramount+, as well as a recovery in ad revenue led by the return of live sports.

Revenues for the media giant rose 8% year-over-year to $6.6 billion in the second quarter.

• Ad sales grew 24% year-over-year to $2.1 billion, which the company attributed to sports resuming. CBS’ sports broadcasts include the NFL, NCAA basketball and football, and the PGA Tour.
• The company added 6.5 million streaming subscriptions, namely through Paramount+, Showtime, and Pluto TV. Global streaming revenue grew 92% year-over-year to $983 million. 
• Paramount+ will launch in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Germany, and Austria in 2022 through a partnership with Sky.

The company is paying handsomely to keep the NFL in its lineup: It will fork over $23.6 billion from 2023-2033 to air league games on its linear and streaming channels and stay in the Super Bowl rotation along with NBC and Fox.

ViacomCBS broadcast Super Bowl LV in February, leveraging the viewership of 96.4 million to promote Paramount+. 

The company anticipates that streaming will contribute 15% to its total revenue in 2021 as it leans on live sports to lure subscribers.

Last week, a report revealed that the Southeastern Conference could generate NCAA-like revenue with the addition of Oklahoma and Texas. But the schools’ move will leave a gaping hole for the Big 12 Conference, whose commissioner claims its TV revenue could be split in half.

Texas and Oklahoma accepted the SEC’s invitation last week, four years before their contracts with the Big 12 expire in 2025.

The Big 12 signed a $2.6 billion, 13-year deal with ESPN and Fox in 2012. There are stipulations stating that if any team leaves the conference, it would forfeit its future TV revenue through the end of the contract. 

Texas and Oklahoma’s departure for the SEC raises questions about the future of college sports.

• Bowlsby said the Big 12 distributes around $28 million annually in TV revenue to each of its 10 members. He estimates that the schools would lose $14 million of that per year.
• The SEC, on the other hand, recently said it plans to give each conference member as much as $70 million. It signed a $3 billion, 10-year deal with ESPN in December.

Reports suggest Big 12 schools Kansas and Iowa State were interested in moving to the Big Ten but were shot down by the conference.

Bowlsby has held discussions with the Pac-12 Conference about a merger with the Big 12, but says remaining members believe the “best opportunity is to stay together and find solutions together.”

Electronic Arts announced Wednesday that its revenue for Q1 exceeded estimates, raising the company’s outlook for the fiscal year.

The gaming giant’s revenue grew to $1.55 billion, surpassing last year’s $1.46 billion. Net bookings brought in $1.34 billion — down 3%, but above EA’s guidance of $1.25 billion.

EA credits the success to its sports content, blockbuster franchises, and live services.

• More than 140 million players have engaged with EA Sports games over the last 12 months.
• Season 9 of “Apex Legends” averaged more than 13 million weekly active players and set a record for peak daily players across all seasons.
• Its portfolio consists of more than 15 mobile live services.

EA continues to build its gaming empire by purchasing video game studios. In 2021, it’s acquired Playdemic, Metalhead Software, Glu Mobile, and Codemasters.

With these acquisitions and upcoming titles “Madden 22,” “FIFA 22,” and “Battlefield 2042,” EA has high expectations for the 2022 fiscal year, expecting approximately $6.85 billion in revenue and $7.4 billion in net bookings.