How Does the NFL Impact Our Economy?
Jeremy Skoug
Football is by far one of the most popular sports to watch in America. Every Sunday is greeted by parties where people get together to watch their favorite team. At the end of the season most of the country watches the Super Bowl and all the interesting ads that come with it. As such a popular pastime for so many people, it’s no surprise that the NFL has an enormous impact on our economy. In fact, the NFL generates the highest revenue out of any league in the world, as you can see in the visual below.
As you can see, in the 2015-16 season, the NFL brought in $13 billion, which is $3.5 billion more than the next highest league, and $7.7 billion more than any foreign sports league. The NFL is also growing, as in the 2018-19 season they generated around $15 billion in revenue. With this large amount of revenue, the NFL brings money to the local economies of all 32 teams and creates thousands of seasonal jobs at the stadiums. The NFL has TV contracts with Fox, CBS, NBC, and ESPN, all of which amount to almost $5 billion of annual revenue. The average NFL city in 2011 generated $5 million per game, bringing tourism to even the worst teams in the league. The NFL pays every team the same amount of money from TV contracts, so even bad teams will still bring money to their organizations. Ticket sales, concessions, and merchandise also provide a source of revenue to teams with the die hard fan base that most teams have regardless of their record. Then the Super Bowl comes around which is a must-watch for any sports fan. Companies spend millions of dollars for ads to be played during the Super Bowl, and these ads are seen by millions of people across the country, bringing business to these companies. Some people who aren’t sports fans will watch the Super Bowl just for the ads. And with a price tag of over $5 million for a 30-second ad, it makes sense that these ads have to be enticing. Super Bowl 54 had 99.9 million viewers--that’s almost a third of the entire population of the country. With that many people viewing ads, businesses are bound to make more money, which increases the GDP and consumer confidence. The NFL also creates thousands of jobs throughout the country. Not only does every team have players, coaches, and team staff that make money, they also have seasonal workers at the stadiums. These consist of part time concession workers, janitors, security guards, ushers and more. It is estimated that the league creates about 110,000 jobs in NFL cities between the around 4,000 part time workers each stadium employs and the local hotel and surrounding business owners. An NFL team is a very big contributor to a local economy. Football games bring tourists to not only the stadium, but lots of restaurants and other businesses in the area. When these businesses make more money, they grow and hire more workers, helping to work towards full employment and increasing demand as more people make more money. According to an article by Mazin Ali, a Cleveland steakhouse gets 5 times the business on a Browns game day. This results in them doubling the wait staff, so more part time workers are making money. In addition to this, if you watch football, you know that the Browns are generally not a very good team. The referenced article was written in 2019, when the Browns were 6-10. The year before that they were 7-8-1, and before that 0-16. This is a team that does not usually have success, but they still bring in $63 million a year and always sell out.
When looking at the overall economy, it is important to consider the money that is brought in by professional sports leagues, because they are really just big businesses. The NFL is the most profitable league in the world, and it brings a lot of positive economic changes to cities with a team, as well as the country as a whole.
Works Cited
Ali, Mazin. “How American Football Affects the U.S. Economy.” Financial Services, 16 Sept. 2019, cyberbooks.co/nfl/.
Coster, Helen. “Super Bowl TV Audience Rises Slightly to 99.9 Million Viewers.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 3 Feb. 2020, www.reuters.com/article/us-football-nfl-superbowl-ratings/super-bowl-tv-audience-rises-slightly-to-99-9-million-viewers-idUSKBN1ZX2LI.
“The Economics of the NFL.” Etonomics, 27 Nov. 2019, etonomics.com/2019/11/27/the-economics-of-the-nfl/#:~:text=The%20sheer%20scale%20of%20audience,of%20sports%20in%20the%20USA.
Kutz, Steven. “NFL Took in $13 Billion in Revenue Last Season - See How It Stacks up against Other pro Sports Leagues.” MarketWatch, MarketWatch, 2 July 2016, www.marketwatch.com/story/the-nfl-made-13-billion-last-season-see-how-it-stacks-up-against-other-leagues-2016-07-01.
I knew the the NFL drew lots of revenue but $13B dollars? That is insane. I like how you gave specific examples of teams such as the Browns. It doesn't matter how good or bad a team is they will still make sales and lots of money. Maybe you could have gone into depth about the commercials in our super bowl. How much money does the superbowl make alone? Overall very well written blog!
ReplyDeleteI thought that it was interesting how you chose to do a bit different of a topic. Although your article talked about the economics of the NFL, you were also able to bring in a “fun” aspect and talk about something that (almost) everyone knows something about. Your visual was a nice aide to support what you were talking about, because it helped me as a reader understand exactly what type of an impact the NFL was having on the economy. I was surprised to see that it is billions of dollars. Not only does the NFL bring in tourism, but it also provides jobs, which is a very interesting point that you made. It made me think about how sometimes people are opposed to the building of stadiums, or having a large sports team in their town, but it actually creates jobs for so many people. Having a sports team is a large business, but it can bring lots of jobs and money to a town. I like how you addressed this in your article.
ReplyDeleteI never knew how many jobs the NFL created around the community and how big of an impact the teams have on the community around them. I can see how having an NFL team or even any professional sports team in your community would help to boost your economy because of the amount of jobs it creates. I am curious to how many more jobs are created because of the ads that are played during the Superbowl?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about how the league brings in tourists to restaurants and businesses in the area, if you look at the super bowl many people go to watch it and it generates a ton of revenue in that city as people go to the restaurants. I do want to point out however that the visual is either old or isn't fully correct as the NBA brings in about 8 billion in revenue per year.
ReplyDeleteTo add on to what you are saying in regards to jobs they have more simple jobs for ball boys at practices and even various jobs throughout the organization like more opportunities for trainers and medical staff. Another thing to bring up is even in a season such as this one with limited fans the numbers brought in from people watching at home which is larger due to more people being at home.
ReplyDeleteWhen we think of the NFL we don't think about how much is boosts our economy. It was interesting to see that the NFL generates $13 billion. That is significantly more than any other sport. Another thing that we don't think about is the number of jobs it creates. The NFL creates 110,000 jobs. This is divided up between players, coaches,team staff, and stadium workers. The NFL really helps boost the economy more than we would ever think. To us it's just entertainment.
ReplyDeleteI never really thought about how the NFL could affect the economy, however, after reading this article, I realized that, not only does it affect the economy, but it has an enormous effect. Which, in retrospect, makes a lot of sense because of how large of an association the NFL is and how popular it is to attend the games or even to go to sports bars and other restaurants to buy food and drinks and watch the games on the huge TV screens. The NFL themselves are not the only money makers in this situation; if you think about places like Point Burger Bar and Buffalo Wild Wings and even Applebee’s, they really market themselves for game nights which is such a good idea because you can just meet all your friends at a place like that instead of hosting a party at your house and then the restaurant really benefits off of that.
ReplyDeleteFootball is a hugely popular sport in nearly every American family and a culture has undoubtedly developed around watching football, eating snacks or getting pizza, wearing the lucky jersey, etc. Therefore, it isn’t surprising that it also benefits the economy through employment and consumer spending. However, why do you think that the NBA generates ~$9 billion less than the NFL? How can these industries continue to expand? Could creating a superbowl-esc experience each game with a halftime performance increase revenues by attracting a larger audience? Would that be worth the excess salary? Overall, it’s obvious that football contributes to the economy and is a prominent aspect of the entertainment and sports industries, yet I think even more of the US population could be attracted to it with some added features.
ReplyDeleteI knew that the NFL contributes greatly to the economy, but I never knew how big the impact was. With COVID-19, it's quite obvious that the NFL’s contribution will be lower, since many stadiums aren’t allowing fans so they don’t need people to work as ushers or in concessions etc., but I wonder if local restaurants are seeing an increase in business because people can no longer go to the stadiums or if they are not as full because most people are opting to stay home.
ReplyDeleteI loved hearing about how the NFL affects the economy in a good way versus a negative way. It certainly gave me a different idea than what I had written about my previous blog post about as well. From the players making millions of dollars and the other minor people working inside of stadiums, it definitely shows how much of an impact they make for the people directly in the system. However, what do they do with all those profits? I know that a lot of Owners of teams just pocket that cash and won't give it away because they believe that it is "theirs" and that's simply due to the idea that games are just major businesses not truly entertainment for civilians.
ReplyDeleteThe NFL certainly does make a ton of revenue, and I'm not surprised it makes the most out of any sports league. You mentioned how NFL teams help boost the local economy of a city by hiring stadium workers, but now with the shutdown, I wonder how the economies are fairing. Like for example, Green Bay. Lambeau Field is only operating at partial capacity this postseason, so how negatively does that affect Green Bay? Something interesting to think about in 2021.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how the Coronavirus has impacted the NFL's revenue? If they're paying people less, would that mean that they get more revenue? Or would it mean that they made less money, due to less sales in stadiums?
ReplyDeleteI never really thought about how much jobs the football, or sport industry really makes for us. I also know that basically all sports (but epically football in America) makes big bucks, so I really shouldn't be all to surprised about the amount of jobs that can come from just one stadium. I wonder what it would be life if we didn't have football, how would the economy be? Would another sport take its place?
ReplyDeleteGreat Blog! Interesting topic when it comes to football. I always knew that the NFL was the highest revenue sport, but I didn't know just how much that impacted the economy. The fact that the NFL creates over 110,000 jobs is so beneficial for part time workers and of course the actual teams with their players, coaches, and team staff. I like how you also brought up how the NFL also benefits local industries in the area such as restaurants or other businesses. Let's also not forget about the Superbowl and how that contributes extremely well with the revenue and increases it. However, the NFL's viewership has been dropping throughout the years, but it still remains at the top for a reason.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you did a topic that isn't really addressed as much as it should be, and it was so interesting! I never thought about how much of an impact the NFL had on our economy, and never thought it would even be near this much. I also really like that you mentioned how much money the Browns made off of even playing and people going to bars and restaurants affected that. I wonder how much money was made this year because of COVID-19?
ReplyDeleteI never knew that the NFL made as much as $13 Billion a year! How much of that money goes to the people working at the stadium each year? With how popular the sport its, and the massive size of the stadiums. It is no surprise that they are the top league in the country. Which teams normally make the greats profit? According to the Wall Street Journal, the NFL's profit dropped about $4 Billion. Before COVID, it says that the NFL actually had a $16 billion revenue bubble. Could any other sports catch up to the NFL in terms of revenue because of this loss?
ReplyDeleteEveryone knows that the NFl racks in a lot of money, but 13 billion a year is crazy! I love that you compared the profit from the NFL to other sports leagues. It really shows the significance and importance of specifically the NFL. I never realized how much the NFL does for the economy which is extremely interesting. The craziest part to me is that no matter how good the team is they still can make so much profit. This sparks the question of how much profit women's sports make. I did research on the national women's soccer team vs the men's and the women's team is significantly better in their league and make a much higher profit, but they are all payed less than the men. How does that work?
ReplyDeleteI wonder how the NFL's loss in revenue will be made up in the next coming years? Will ticket prices rise, jerseys become more expensive, or will the NFL just except their losses. I personally think that the NFL will remain fairly stable in terms of pricing. They have made enough money in past years that they probably don’t even feel the stress of COVID-19. But only time will tell.
ReplyDeletei wonder if coronavirus has effected the NFL budget at all. I also never knew that the NFL has created that many jobs due to the size. I liked that you compared the profit from the NFL to other sports leagues. It really shows the significance and importance of specifically the NFL. good job.
ReplyDeleteI never knew how much the NFL contributed to the economy. Like many other comments, I do wonder what the effects of COIVD-19 had on the NFL and their revenue. Many jobs were lost in the pandemic so I wonder if not just players but, managers, directors and other facility jobs were lost as well. Do those lost jobs save the NFL or teams from financial problems, or not?
ReplyDeleteI always knew the NFL was a big organization but I never knew how big or how much they contributed to the economy. The NFL's money usually comes from the thousands of fans that come to the game and purchase items. Has covid-19 really affected the NFL? Are they still managing to come up with those funds? What are there plans for the upcoming season? Coming from a family of season ticket holders we are eager to get back into the stadium and hope they move forward.
ReplyDeleteI knew about the NFL and how big it was but not to the extent of 13b. Along with the jobs as well. The NFL is not only boosting itself and the revenue for each team, but also for the businesses around it. I really like how you brought this up as well. I still am curious as I know many others are as well how many jobs were affected to COVID-19 but also if they are going to have enough money to hire everyone back. I know that many other leagues like the NBA for example lost billions due to the fans not being able to attend and purchases for team merchandise as well. Will the NFL be able to recover and get back to it's pre-COVID form and if so how long do you think that could take?
ReplyDeleteI love football Sunday's! It's insane how the NFL brings in $13B! I wonder how much the players are making on each team, and whether their pay differs by how good a certain team plays. Its also very interesting that the NFL provides so many more jobs for people than I thought. I bet a lot of the income comes from people purchasing team merchandise because it can be pretty expensive.
ReplyDeleteThe NFL is a huge industry that is significant to our economy. All the money that they generate circulates back into the economy. The workers will spend their paychecks on other goods and services, and the fans spend their money on tickets, etc. Without the NFL, thousands of people would be without jobs, those people wouldn't be spending as much, etc. I never realized the scale of the NFL, which makes me wonder how badly they were affected with COVID. Hopefully the NFL will continue to prosper and support the economy.
ReplyDeleteThe NFL is a big company/Industry that is majorly effective in our economy because people watch it so much and will pay for the seats as well and to top it off the food costs there are overpriced as well so they make so much from just that. Without this it would put a lot of people out of their jobs especially all the players on all the teams as well
ReplyDeleteIt's also important to note that not only do teams have a huge economic impact but also players. Michael jordan, Lebron James, and Wayne Gretzky are all good examples. When the changed teams the economies of their old cities would shrink and their new cities would see a rise in gdp. Not substantially from an objective point of view but still an incredible effect for just one person to cause. Michael Jordan specifically had an effect on chicago similar in size to a fortune 500 company. I made a blog post last semester similar to yours which detailed that specific incidence.
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