In 2010, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell laid out an ambitious goal: He wanted the league’s total revenue to reach $25 billion by 2027. The league seems to be on pace to reach that goal.
That’s what analysts tell Bloomberg, which reports that the league is now at about $15 billion in annual revenue and seems headed toward adding another $10 billion a year within the next eight years.
That is obviously good news for league owners, for Goodell himself (whose hefty compensation is based on the owners’ belief that he helps them generate that revenue) and for the players as well, as player compensation is tied to league revenue. The big question for fans is whether more money for the league is good news for them.
If the league continues growing the revenue pie by putting games on increasingly expensive pay-TV packages, raising ticket prices and otherwise expecting the fans to pay more for the same product, that’s not a great deal for the fans.