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Leagues and Governing Bodies

NFL Boasts Healthy String Of Lucrative Offseason Deals

The NFL is "having a banner off-season," as it has "rattled off a string of lucrative deals over the last several months that fly in the face" of concerns about the league's future, according to Andrew Beaton of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Fox paid $3.3B for the "Thursday Night Football" package, "a 47% increase over the current deal." Verizon’s new mobile deal with the league "jumped" from $250M annually to more than $450M. An "uncomfortable imbroglio with sponsor Papa John’s led to a breakup -- and, a day later, an even more lucrative deal with Pizza Hut." NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said, "The stability of our league has never been stronger and firmer. That doesn’t mean we’re not realistic about the challenges. We have them." This is a "key feature of the Goodell era in the NFL: his ability to rake in ever more money for the owners despite mounting problems." The recent deals "give Goodell some good news to bring into an owners meeting that will otherwise be subsumed with ongoing challenges." The league has been "unable to quell the anthem protests by players," and TV ratings have "declined for two years amid growing data the league is losing its core audience." The "ultimate test" of whether Goodell and the owners have "successfully navigated the current storm is a few years off," as the league’s TV deals expire in '21. The recent spate of strong second-tier deals "provides some hope that the league can still sustain its long run of growth" (WSJ.com, 3/23).

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