NFL’s Added Value

As the NFL season approaches, billions of TV ad revenue are at stake. Last year, the league generated $3.3 billion in regular season ad revenue and $1.3 billion in the postseason.

The NBA, NHL and MLB combined for $2 billion in national TV ad revenue last year. There’s also another $1.7 billion in TV ad revenue tied to college football, which has already lost two Power 5 conference seasons.

Without both the NFL and NCAA football, marketers could be left without prime audiences for their advertisements. If the NFL is left as the lone football option this fall, however, it could be a bigger opportunity for marketers as the league generally draws more eyeballs than a college football game — the NFL accounted for 41 of the 50 top-rated television programs of any kind in 2019.

Network Ad Revenue Share From NFL: 

Fox: 39%

CBS: 24%

NBC: 21%

ESPN: 17%

DAZN is reportedly looking to raise $1 billion. Potential options for the sports streaming company’s raise include a stock market listing or divestment of its assets.

Along with a potential initial public offering, the company is reportedly considering going public through a special purpose acquisition company — as other sports entities like DraftKings and Allied Esports have done in the past two years. Another possibility would be selling off its Japanese business.

All potential options are at an early stage, sources told Bloomberg. The COVID-19 pandemic halted a previous effort to raise $500 million.

Since launching in 2016, DAZN has spent aggressively to acquire sports media rights across the globe, but struggled with its monthly subscriber plans as sports shut down. In June, the platform expanded its share of soccer rights in Germany, but has also sought to exit its Asian coverage of the Champions League and its Serie A rights in Brazil.

The coronavirus kept millions of Americans indoors this spring, but they flocked outdoors come summer. June is normally a big sales month for the outdoor industry, and the top five activities all saw major upticks in 2020 compared to 2019, according to NPD Retail Tracking Service.

With gyms closed and few sports to watch on TV, consumers looked toward outdoor activities to fill their time.

Cycling: $697 million in June sales (63% year-over-year increase)

Golf: $661 million (51% increase)

Camping: $605 million (31% increase)

Paddle sports (like canoeing and kayaking): $172 million ($56% increase)

Bird-watching and nature sightings: $16 million in binocular sales (22% increase)

After the Washington Football Team hired Jason Wright, making him the first Black team president in the NFL, Wright discussed the importance of diverse NFL leadership with FOS. The move comes just weeks after Washington named Julie Donaldson its senior vice president of media, making her the first woman to have a full-time role in an NFL team’s game-day radio booth.

As a seven-year NFL running back, Wright played under Romeo Crennel, a Black head coach, and Rob Graves, a Black general manager. “I think I was fortunate as a player to have several Black role models in leadership positions that were not directly between the lines,” Wright said.

Of the league’s nearly 1,700 players, very few can say the same despite Black men making up about 70% of players in the NFL. Only three head coaches are Black and only one head coach — Washington’s Ron Rivera — is Latino. Andrew Berry and Chris Grier are the sole Black general managers in the league. Only 12.8% of vice presidents and above at the NFL team level are people of color, according to the 2019 NFL Racial and Gender Report Card.