As the NFL’s revenues rise, so do the players’ salaries. And the 2014 season will see both the owners and the players getting richer than ever before.
This year’s salary cap is expected to rise to about $130 million per team, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. That’s a 5 percent increase from last year’s cap of $123 million, and it’s good news for teams that are tight on cap space.
Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the amount teams can spend on players is determined by the league’s revenues, through a complex calculation that includes TV money, ticket sales, merchandising and so on. The players get about 48 percent of the total league revenue, so a cap of $130 million suggests that NFL teams are raking in about $270 million a year.
The salary cap should rise by at least a few million dollars per team next year as well, thanks to the new TV revenue coming from CBS buying the Thursday night package.