The NFL is getting closer to its long-stated goal of $25 billion in annual revenue.

With Amazon’s new $1.2 billion media rights deal for “Thursday Night Football” taking effect last season, the league brought in nearly $12 billion in national revenue, according to Forbes — a 7% increase over last year’s $11.1 billion . 

With teams’ local earnings added in, the NFL likely closed in on $20 billion in total revenue in 2022.

Distributing revenue evenly among the league’s 32 teams, every club received $372 million from the NFL’s national pot last year. The majority of that payment — $249 million — comes from media rights deals totaling more than $10 billion annually.

And the total pot will only continue to grow. This season, YouTube is taking over the rights to “NFL Sunday Ticket” — paying $2 billion annually compared to DirecTV’s $1.5 billion yearly fee.

Despite the huge media rights fee the NFL sees each year, the league reportedly has the option to opt out of each deal after seven years. Should the league choose to do so, it would likely see an even further increase in revenue. 

The current media deals could also be back-loaded so that annual payments eventually increase well beyond the average annual value. In that case, even if the league doesn’t opt out, it could still significantly increase its earnings.

The Open Championship purse is getting a substantial increase over last year, but still ranks last among golf’s four major championships.

Next week’s tournament — which starts July 20 at Royal Liverpool in England — will pay out $16.5 million, including $3 million to the winner. That prize pool lags behind the U.S. Open ($20 million), Masters ($18 million), and PGA Championship ($17.5 million).

Before the birth of LIV Golf, the major championships and the Players Championship were the highest purses in golf each year. This season, only the U.S. Open matched the $20 million purse offered at the PGA Tour’s elevated events and LIV Golf tournaments, while the Players offered $25 million.

Despite the increased prize money throughout golf, the majors have still attracted the best fields and drawn the most eyeballs. 

The governing bodies that run each of those four events — the USGA, R&A, PGA of America, and Augusta National — also have the most control of the professional game. They hold four of the seven spots that determine who receives Official World Golf Ranking points.

Deep Pockets

Golf’s landscape will continue to change into 2024 and beyond as the PGA Tour attempts to finalize its controversial deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The PIF could invest more than $1 billion into the Tour through the alliance.

A system of team promotion and relegation — critical to how many global leagues operate, particularly in soccer — could finally be headed to the U.S.

The United Soccer League is reportedly set to vote next month on a season format in which teams would move between the USL Championship and League One depending on the final standings. The two leagues are the respective second and third divisions of the American soccer pyramid below MLS.

If approved, the move would be a first in major U.S. sports, one designed to boost interest and visibility for the USL — which has grown steadily but still faces challenges in a crowded sports market. 

The vote isn’t slated to implement the new system straight away, but rather certify sufficient owner interest to proceed.

Cultural Obstacles

While promotion and relegation remains a fixture in European soccer — even to damaging financial effect — massive obstacles remain before any such system could take broader hold in the U.S.

Most U.S. pro stadium development and projects involve at least some element of public money or infrastructure aid, contributions often joined by legal covenants mandating the teams in question remain in their respective cities and leagues.

MLS commissioner Don Garber has been lukewarm at best about promotion and relegation for that league, saying earlier this year, “I don’t see how that works today, but I can’t look far enough in the future to say never.”

Disney’s media business in India has gone from cricket to crickets, so to speak — bringing potentially big changes in the corporate outlook of the ESPN parent.

The company is reportedly looking at “strategic options” for its Star India television and streaming business — which four years ago was a key part of entertainment assets acquired from Fox in a $71.3 billion deal and seen as a crucial tool in Disney’s pivot to streaming.

But after the loss of crucial Indian Premier League cricket streaming rights last year, Star India’s fortunes have dramatically fallen. Its Hotstar streaming service — which integrated with Disney+ and dramatically boosted the overall subscriber count of that platform — dropped from 61.3 million subscribers in October 2022 to 52.9 million as of April 2023. 

More losses are expected when Disney next reports quarterly earnings next month.

In its last quarter, Hotstar generated only 59 cents in revenue per subscriber for Disney, down 20% from December 2022 and just 8% of the comparable $7.14 average for domestic Disney+ subscribers.

Talks remain at an early stage, and it’s still unclear whether Disney will pursue a sale or merely recapitalize Star India.

Disney is still in the midst of shedding 7,000 jobs — about 3% of its global workforce — in a bid to reduce $5.5 billion in costs. The most recent effects included another round of cuts at ESPN. 

Meanwhile, Disney CEO Bob Iger on Wednesday completed a two-year contract extension keeping him in place through 2026.