Continued growth in NFL broadcast rights revenue partially offset big spending increases for the Packers in ‘18, according to a financial report released Friday. The club posted a narrow $700,000 operating profit on nearly $477.9M in revenue last year, down from a $34.1M profit in '17. Fox Sports’ purchase of a five-year “TNF” package helped push the team’s share of national revenue up 7.2% to $274.3M. However, with the team missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year, local revenue grew by just 2.3% to $203.7M. After the Packers’ profits peaked at $75M in ‘16, the figures have declined each of the past three seasons. 

Expenses this year were up 13.4% due to the team’s contribution to the retired players’ concussion settlement fund, Aaron Rodgers’ $134M contract extension and severance costs for fired coach Mike McCarthy and his staff. In '18, the NFL salary gap grew by $10.2M to $177.2M. All told, the Packers said $20M of their expense growth went to player compensation not under the cap, such as signing bonuses. Packers President & CEO Mark Murphy declined to say exactly how much the concussion payments were in '18. “It’s a 65-year settlement, it’s going to be something that’s with us for quite a while,” Murphy said. "And the other thing is, it’s not capped." 

The Packers’ financial report, published annually under its unique status as a nonprofit, is the only officially released indication of NFL finances. The national revenue figure means that the league made $8.8B in national revenue, up $589M over the prior year. Local revenue growth was soft for the second consecutive year after a period of strong growth after Lambeau Field’s renovations, which were mostly completed in ‘13. Murphy said that reflects the second straight non-playoff season, the first time that has happened since ‘05-06. Murphy said the expenditures growth were unusual. “In spite of the, I would say, unique or atypical financial expenses, I think the Packers are still in a very strong financial position.” The teams’ corporate reserve account grew 4.5% to $397M on investment returns.

NFL owners have raised the prospect of adding a single game to the regular season that must be played at a neutral site, Packers President & CEO Mark Murphy said Friday. That idea has been floated as one of several suggestions to restructure the NFL’s season during the early phases of CBA talks with the NFLPA. The 17th regular-season game would replace one current preseason game, and the resulting neutral-site revenue would be shared among the clubs evenly, a league source said. The change could expand both the NFL’s international schedule and open the door to domestic neutral-site matchups, such Bengals-Browns at Ohio Stadium or Steelers-Eagles at Beaver Stadium.

“That could be something that would really help everybody in terms of growing the game, and growing interest in the game, not only in NFL cities, but internationally and beyond,” said Murphy, a member of the league’s management council executive committee. A union source said the players have not seen any formal proposal regarding the season structure. The conversations so far have been brief and not detailed, sources said.

After being rebuffed by the union in their attempt to add two games to the regular season in the last round of union talks, NFL owners are mooting a variety of options this time -- including simply removing one preseason game, replacing two preseason games with regular-season games or to expand the playoffs by adding a third wildcard team in each conference. Murphy threw cold water on the suggestion that the regular season expand to 18 games but each individual player only be permitted to play in 16.  “Quite honestly to me, that’s a hard one to sell to fans,” Murphy said. 

Sports betting is "now legal in New Hampshire," as Gov. Chris Sununu signed a bill Friday to "allow mobile gambling as well as wagering at up to 10 retail locations across the state." The state Lottery Commission will "supervise and regulate the new industry." It is expected to bring in an estimated $7.5M in FY '21 and $13.5M two years later (AP, 7/12).

F1 team Aston Martin Red Bull Racing has rolled out a special one-off deal this weekend with the production company behind “James Bond” to celebrate the movie series during the British Grand Prix. The deal, terms of which were not revealed, was set up by Aston Martin, which serves as title sponsor of the team even though it is not in F1 as a manufacturer. Characters playing Bond have driven Aston Martins for decades, and a new Bond film is set to come out next year, giving the production company reason to activate the brand.

Activation involves the famous “007” logo appearing on both of Red Bull’s cars during the race weekend at Silverstone Circuit and placing special graphics on the team’s pit wall that pay homage to the character Q’s M16 Lab. The team also has been activating heavily on social media with "Bond"-themed trivia videos. The F1 British Grand Prix is Sunday at 9:00am on ESPN2.

ECU trustees on Friday voted unanimously to "approve the sale of beer and wine at athletic events," making it the fourth UNC System school to adopt such a policy. ECU's "goal is to sell alcohol" at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (football) and Minges Coliseum (men's, women's basketball) starting this year and at Clark-LeClair Stadium (baseball) in spring '20 (NEWSOBSERVER.com, 7/12).

Bleacher Report on Saturday is launching its B/R Jump-Off fan experience event around the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and has signed up several sponsors for the event at the Brooklyn Bowl inside the LINQ resort & casino. One brand participating is State Farm, which will activate around a “your shot” social media sharing moment for fans, as well as a dunk contest. Caesars Entertainment is sponsoring a VIP area and a players' lounge, while social media platform Bumble -- which is also the Clippers’ jersey patch sponsor -- is another VIP area sponsor. Other brands activating include Coors Light, JCPenny, Adidas and Jack Daniels. Bleacher Report also will debut a House of Highlights arcade at the event, complete with a dedicated game zone and live studio programming with special guests.

New data from MVPIndex illustrates the Women’s World Cup impact on USWNT players’ social media values and the brands they represent. Alex Morgan gained 3.2 million social media followers during the month-long tournament, the most of the team’s 23 players. MVPIndex estimates that 341 posts involving Morgan -- both sponsor posts related to her and posts coming directly from her -- generated a team-high estimated social media value of $27.12M. A Morgan tweet (75,000 retweets) and Instagram post 2 million-plus likes, (valued at $2.67M) were the most popular social media posts of the World Cup. Megan Rapinoe was the breakout star of the tournament both on and off the field, and her year-over-year social media value increased by 1,007%, the biggest jump of any U.S. player.

During the World Cup, D Abby Dahlkemper experienced a team-high 406% increase in number of social media followers, while a photo F Jessica McDonald tweeted of her son showering confetti over her head after the World Cup final received the most engagement of any post (637% engagement, 114,000 engagements). Official World Cup sponsors Visa and Adidas finished as the tournament’s top brands, while No. 3 Nike’s value stemmed largely from its logo placement on the national team’s jerseys.

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Bain Capital has acquired 60% of Kantar, the WPP-owned "data and insight consultancy" (ADWEEK.com, 7/12).

Alabama-based Bruno Event team has partnered with new PGA Tour Bermuda Championship for "corporate sales, marketing, event operations, volunteer recruitment and ticketing." The deal is for five years (BIZJOURNALS.com, 7/12).

HyperX is sponsoring Red Bull's esports events in '19, starting with Saturday's Red Bull Rise Till Dawn event in Chicago. HyperX will be the official supplier of multiple equipment categories, including headsets, keyboards and mice (HyperX).

"I imagine this is one of the more exciting times we have ever seen as far as visibility and enthusiasm" -- New Balance VP/Global Marketing Chris Davis, on Clippers F and reigning NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard endorsing the brand (FORBES.com, 7/12).

"That McGwire is gargantuan, but Griffey would be my pick. For hitting the ball consistently, maybe he is the best" -- Late Baseball HOFer Ted Williams, correctly predicting Ken Griffey Jr. would win the Home Run Derby at Fenway Park in '99. The ailing Williams' memorable return to Fenway for the MLB All-Star Game took place 20 years ago on Friday (BOSTONGLOBE.com, 7/12).

Well, that was fun. After 20 years in morning drive, I did my last show on WEEI this morning. Thanks to all who listened. Unfortunately, this ain’t a movie. Sometimes the bad guys win. Much more to come.

— Gerry Callahan (@GerryCallahan) July 12, 2019

Federer just made Nadal wait to serve

Man bites dog

— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) July 12, 2019

Nice to see @RickieFowler do a walk-and-talk with @timbartergolf at @ScottishOpen. I usually find these interviews more valuable than post-round Q&As. Question is: If an American player can do a mid-round Q&A in Scotland, why do we never see it done @pgatour events in the U.S.?

— Martin Kaufmann (@MartinGKaufmann) July 12, 2019

Kentucky's Mitch Barnhart has been named chair of the Division I men’s basketball committee for the 2020-21 season, per the NCAA.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) July 12, 2019

If you see a tweet we will not want to miss, send it to us at editorial@sportsbusinessdaily.com.

The only offensive player in the #99Club...

Congratulations, @DeAndreHopkins!@thecheckdown | @EAMaddenNFL

— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) July 12, 2019

At the start of Friday's Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal Wimbledon semifinal, ESPN offered some shots of famous fans in the crowd at Centre Court, and one such celeb was Nick Faldo. But ESPN did not feel its Exec VP/Programming & Scheduling Burke Magnus, seated just in front of Faldo, needed to be identified (THE DAILY).

Saturday

MLB Commissioner Emeritus Bud Selig will throw out the first pitch prior to the Giants-Brewers game at Miller Park.

The MLB Cardinals, in conjunction with the St. Louis Baseball Writers and Be The Match, will host the #Join4Joe marrow drive at Busch Stadium.

Sunday

A celebration in honor of Bucks F Giannis Antetokounmpo winning his first MVP will take place on the plaza at Fiserv Forum from 2:00-5:00pm CT.

A pair of women's soccer videos to close out this week, in which the USWNT dominated the news cycle. SI shows off its 24 digital covers, each with a different player from the Women's World Cup-winning squad, plus manager Jill Ellis.

To commemorate the @USWNT’s fourth Women’s World Cup championship, SI presents 24 digital covers, featuring the 23 players and manager Jill Ellis https://t.co/MRtIVgELi8 pic.twitter.com/JT34CbRrJU

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) July 12, 2019

Meanwhile, the NWSL Portland Thorns rolled out this hype video showcasing the city's support for the team.

👋We’ve noticed a lot of new faces around here…

Here’s a look at what the Portland Thorns are all about. #BAONPDX pic.twitter.com/U5gieZ0n8C

— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) July 10, 2019

$1.19M -- Total cost of the Michigan football team's offseason trip to South Africa in May (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 7/12).