Pulling Back the Curtain on the NFL’s $25 Billion Revenue Dream

The NFL made nearly $13 billion last season before any of the league’s 32 teams sold a single ticket, hot dog, soda, or beer.

That information comes via the summertime tradition of the Packers releasing their annual financial report. Green Bay is the only publicly owned NFL franchise, and therefore releases key revenue figures that the other 31 teams keep private.

This week, the Packers reported a $60.1 million operating profit for the fiscal year ending on March 31. That came after bringing in $654 million in total revenue, up roughly 7% from the prior year. The majority of that came from Green Bay’s share of national revenue that the NFL distributed equally among its franchises. For the 2023 season, that payment was $402.3 million, up from $374.3 million in ’22.

Counting the Cash

From the Packers’ report, it can be determined the NFL made $12.87 billion in national revenue during the 2023 season. Media rights drove the majority of that, but things like official league sponsors and ticket sales for international and playoff games factored in, too. In ’22, the NFL’s national revenue sum was $11.98 billion. 

The nearly $1 billion year-over-year jump came as the league’s new 11-year, $110 billion broadcast contracts officially kicked in, and more media revenue was realized through a $110 million sale of the first exclusively streamed playoff game.

The $25 Billion Goal

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has said many times that the league’s ambition is to reach $25 billion in total annual revenue by 2027. That tally would come from national and local income, the latter of which varies from team to team. Green Bay’s financials offer insight into how the league is trending there but not a complete picture.

In 2023, the Packers’ local revenue sum was $251.8 million, which included regular-season ticket sales, concessions, and local sponsorships. Green Bay says its local revenue typically ranks near the top of the second quartile of the NFL’s 32 clubs—so somewhere between ninth and 12th.

If the Packers represented even an average NFL team, that would put the league’s total revenue in 2023 at nearly $21 billion. But it’s not that simple. Without knowing how much money enormously popular teams like the Cowboys—or how little the league’s smallest earners—are bringing in, it’s difficult to properly estimate an average local revenue figure across the league.