Roger Goodell is no longer concerned with the NBA, MLB or any of the other professional sports leagues headquartered down the street from him in New York City. Instead, he’s got his sights set on the crown jewels of Silicon Valley.
That’s at least according to a quote featured in Ken Belson’s upcoming book,EVERY DAY IS SUNDAY: How Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft, and Roger Goodell Turned the NFL into a Cultural & Economic Juggernaut, which is set to publish later this year.
In a private setting after Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, Goodell reportedly said the following about the NFL: “We’re not competing with the NBA or MLB. Our competitors are Apple and Google.”
At first glance, it’s a cocky—even outlandish—statement. The NFL’s 2024 revenue just cleared$23 billion, not even one-tenth of the almost $400 billion that both Apple and Google brought in during the same fiscal year. Plus, there’s a huge disparity in global relevance. While technology giants make goods and services used 24/7 by people all around the world, football—despite itsperpetually escalating expansion efforts—is still very much only a national product.
But through a domestic lens, Goodell’s point of view looks a little less out-there. For decades now, the NFL has eclipsed the likes of the NBA and MLB on every conceivable metric, from average game viewership and rights valuations to merchandise sales andgeneral popularity.
Alongside perhaps Taylor Swift—who, thanks to her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, is now very much tied to football’s brand (which has only grown its appeal even further, especially amongyoung women)—the NFL is the sole entertainment property in possession of a fandom that even resembles something monocultural.
When considering all of the above together, it makes sense that the NFL no longer considers other professional leagues its peers; at this stage in the game, its moat is simply too big to cross.
More than anything, however, Goodell’s comments give us insight into how we can expect the league to operate moving forward—that is, aggressively, like a major technology company. There will surely be moreacquisitions, more content licensing agreements, more international outings, moreovertaking of primetime real estate on every major network and available streaming service.
Who knows, a few decades from now we might just all be walking around using our NFL phones to search up the score of the latest Jacksonville Jaguars game in theMiddle East.