NFL revenue
How much revenue does the NFL generate every year? The National Football League is the most popular sport in the United States and is the king of television. It should come as no surprise that NFL revenue is skyrocketing and the league’s future is extremely promising.
The inflated salaries for players and coaches can all be attributed to the skyrocketing NFL salary cap, which has exploded from $123.6 million in 2013 to $224.8 million this season. With the salary cap tied to NFL revenue, it’s time to take a look at where all of this money comes from.
Here’s a breakdown of NFL revenue by year, how it compares to other pro sports and where it comes from.
How much money did the NFL make in 2024?
NFL revenue eclipsed $23 billion across the 2024 fiscal year, as reported by Ben Fischer of the Sports Business Journal. It marked the second consecutive year where NFL revenue jumped by at least $2 billion and represented record-setting revenue for the league once again.
In addition, NFL teams received $416 million each from the league’s distribution of revenue generated from television deals, sponsorships and licensing agreements across the 2024 NFL season. That is an 8.9 percent increase from the distribution for the 2023 season ($382 million). Below you can find the NFL revenue by year since the 2017 season.
Related: NFL owners not happy over rising costs amid record-setting revenue
NFL revenue by year
2024: $23 billion
2023: $20 billion
2022: $18 billion
2021: $17 billion
2020: $12 billion
2019: $16 billion
2018: $15 billion
2017: $14 billion
Related: Richest NFL owners
How much did the NFL make in 2023?
It’s estimated that NFL revenue during the 2023-’24 season approached $20 billion. Of that figure, more than $11 billion came from the league’s broadcasting partners, per Yahoo Finance, with the second-highest source of revenue coming from ticket and merchandise sales in 2023.
Related: How much fans had to pay to watch every NFL game in 2024
NFL salary cap by year (2025 – 2009)
2025: $279.2 million
2024: $255.4 million
2023: $224.8 million
2022: $208.2 million
2021: $182.5 million
2020: $198.2 million
2019: $188.2 million
2018: $177.2 million
2017: $167 million
2016: $155.27 million
2015: $143.28 million
2014: $133 million
2013: $123.6 million
2012: $120.6 million
2011: $120.375 million
2009: $123 million
Related: Highest-paid NFL players
NFL TV revenue – How much TV partners pay for NFL games
NFL: Seattle Seahawks at Kansas City Chiefs
A majority of NFL revenue comes directly from its television and streaming partners. The NFL sells the broadcasting rights to its preseason, regular season and playoff games to broadcasters in multi-year deals for billions of dollars per season. Here’s a breakdown of how much each of the NFL’s broadcasting partners are paying for the annual rights to games.
In 2024, Netflix agreed to a multi-year year deal with the NFL for the exclusive streaming rights to two Christmas Day games during the 2024 NFL season and at least one each in 2025 and ’26. Amazon is also picking up a Christmas Day game in 2025, while adding the Black Friday and a Wild Card Game to its streaming schedule for the 2024 season.
Related: NFL games today
How the NFL will reach its $25 billion revenue goal
NFL: Super Bowl Host Committee Handoff Press Conference
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has set a goal for $25 billion in annual league revenue by 2027 (Sports Media Watch). While the league is more than $9 billion short of achieving its goal by that timeline, it reflects the trend of increasing revenue each season outside of the COVID-19 pandemic year.
In order to reach that, the NFL is dependent on its individual sources of revenue increasing each year. After earning $11 billion in national revenue in 2021, the NFL earned approximately $12 billion ($11.9 billion) across the 2022 season, a 7 percent increase from the previous year. As a result, each of the 32 teams received $374.4 million from national media rights, league sponsorships, merchandising and licensing over the past year. With the Green Bay Packers being publicly owned, their figures were released to give us an idea of what all 32 teams received.
Related: NFL power rankings 2025
Media rights revenue is the largest source of the NFL’s profits, however, a variety of other factors help shape the total revenue. During the 2011 season, 31-of-32 NFL teams averaged 92 percent stadium capacity or higher, with 13 teams recording sellouts in every home game.
In addition, the NFL receives money each year from its non-media partners. As reported by Jabari Young of CNBC in 2022, the league earned nearly $2 billion alone from sponsorships for tech, gambling and alcohol. It helped generate an estimated $18 billion in NFL revenue, which the league expects to surpass $20 billion by 2025.
The NFL salary cap dipped in 2021 as a result of the financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Without fans in attendance during the 2020 season, NFL revenue dipped for the first time in years. To spread out the effects of the lost NFL revenue, the 2021 salary cap was lowered.
In 2024, the NFL salary cap increased by approximately $30 million for each of the league’s 32 teams. The salary cap is shaped by NFL revenue the previous year, a strong sign that the NFL enjoyed record-setting revenue during the 2023-’24 season.
NFL revenue FAQ
Here’s a rundown of everything you need to know about NFL revenue, including how it compares to the NBA, its largest source of revenue and more.
How much revenue does NFL generate?
The NFL generated $23 billion in revenue across the 2024 season, the highest figure ever for the National Football League. It also marked the second consecutive year that NFL revenue topped $20 billion and it was the second year NFL revenue increased by at least $2 billion.
Related: Highest-paid NFL coaches
How is the NFL profitable?
The NFL is profitable because of the positive revenue it generates from media rights, merchandising, sponsorships and stadium revenue it generates every year. Putting it into perspective, the NFL earned $12 billion in national revenue in 2022.
With the 2023 NFL salary cap set at $224.8 million, that would mean a maximum of $7.2 billion dedicated to player salaries this upcoming season if every team hit the cap. As a result, the NFL generates a significant profit by making far more than it spends.
What is the largest source of revenue for NFL?
Media rights deals are the largest source of NFL revenue. Heading into 2023, the NFL will receive nearly $12 billion combined from FOX, Disney, NBC, CBS, Google (YouTube TV), Netflix and Amazon Prime for the broadcasting rights to its regular season and playoff games.
Related: NFL stadium rankings
How much does the NFL make in TV rights?
The NFL generates more than $10 billion in TV rights every season, with its 10-year contracts with broadcasting partners worth over $100 billion total.
Related: NFL defense rankings
Does NFL or NBA generate more revenue?
The NFL generates significantly more revenue than the NBA. The NFL made $23 billion in revenue during its 2024 season, whereas the NBA generated $11.34 billion in revenue across the 2023-’24 season. For comparison, NFL revenue in 2024 ($24 billion) nearly equaled the combined revenue of the NBA ($11.34 billion) and MLB ($12.1 billion).