Jan 27, 2026 · 4h 17m · acquired
The NFL: How small-town teams became America's most valuable sports empire (Audio) · Acquired
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In this remastered deep dive, Acquired hosts Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal explore the business history of the National Football League, examining how small-town barnstorming teams forged a $112 billion media empire through radical revenue sharing, political lobbying, and unmatched broadcast leverage. The episode chronicles the league's rise from early gridiron origins through the Pete Rozelle era to its 2026 status as an entertainment monopoly embracing global streaming, legalized sports betting, and private equity.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Ben and David hold 99.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Ben and David as informed peer 7.8 Guest teaching 1.5 Guest disagreement 0.3 Ben and David pushing back 0.7
speaking balance: gold is Ben and David, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 1:47:45 Al Davis orders quarterback raids despite cease orders
David recounts Al Davis defying Lamar Hunt's peace orders to sign the 49ers quarterback, ruthlessly telling Hunt that aggressive disruption was the only way to force merger leverage.
Hardest push from Ben and David ▶ 3:03:50 Ben pushes back on soaring team valuationsBen directly challenges David's bullishness on sports franchise valuations, arguing that when assets appreciate purely for social signaling rather than underlying cash flows, it indicates a bubble.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 9:15 David reveals Teddy Roosevelt created the NCAADavid surprises Ben by explaining how a White House summit called by Teddy Roosevelt over football fatalities directly established the NCAA to regulate and save the sport.
Ben and David hold their own ▶ 2:56:40 Ben analyzes the zero-margin trap for TV networksBen systematically breaks down how the NFL forces legacy broadcast networks to compete their margins down to zero because they have no other viable programming left.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Ben and David as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Ben and David pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introducing the Remastered NFL Episode and 2026 Context | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | Ben and David introduce the remastered 2026 update before diving into early collegiate football history. David surprises Ben with the historical fact that Teddy Roosevelt's 1905 White House summit directly founded the NCAA to reduce player fatalities. | |
| Founding the NFL in Canton and Jim Thorpe's Leadership | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | David and Ben recount the 1920 founding of the APFA in a Canton auto showroom, detailing George Halas's rules and Jim Thorpe's role as the inaugural president. | |
| Small-Town Economics and the Era of League Segregation | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | The co-hosts analyze why small-town franchises folded and explain the grim era of racial segregation pushed by owners like George Preston Marshall. | |
| Paul Brown's Coaching Revolution and Integrating the LA Rams | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Ben highlights Paul Brown's modern coaching innovations while David explains how the LA Rams relocation forced integration at the Coliseum and Burt Bell established competitive scheduling. | |
| Sponsor: Vanta | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Following the Vanta sponsor read, the hosts detail the reverse-order collegiate draft, the rise of television ownership in post-war America, and the 1958 sudden-death championship game. | |
| Lamar Hunt and the Birth of the AFL | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | David details Lamar Hunt founding the AFL and signing a historic 5-year league-wide rights agreement with Roone Arledge at ABC. | |
| Pete Rozelle's Ascent and the Modernization of the NFL | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | The hosts recount Pete Rozelle's election as compromise commissioner, moving headquarters to Park Avenue, partnering with Elias Sports Bureau, and pioneering media storytelling. | |
| The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 and League-Wide TV Rights | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | The hosts explain the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 granting antitrust exemptions for league-wide broadcasting, alongside the creation of Ed Sabol's cinematic NFL Films. | |
| Centralized Merchandising, the Packers Model, and the Hall of Fame | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Ben and David break down NFL Enterprises centralizing merchandising revenue, the unique community non-profit ownership structure of the Green Bay Packers, and the revenue flywheel. | |
| Joe Namath, Sonny Werblin, and the Pop Culture Explosion | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | The hosts discuss Sonny Werblin signing Joe Namath to the New York Jets, turning Namath into the first modern multi-demographic celebrity athlete and securing NBC's massive contract. | |
| Escalating Bidding Wars and Secret Merger Negotiations | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | David narrates Al Davis becoming AFL commissioner, waging quarterback-signing warfare against the NFL, and providing aggressive leverage for secret merger negotiations. | |
| The Landmark 1966 AFL-NFL Merger Agreement | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | The hosts examine the official June 1966 merger terms, the $18M indemnification paid over 20 years, and Rozelle trading a New Orleans franchise to Hale Boggs for antitrust approval. | |
| Inventing the Super Bowl: Media Week and Early Dominance | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | David and Ben discuss the invention of Super Bowl Media Week, Joe Namath's guaranteed victory in Super Bowl III, and the resulting $40M-per-year joint broadcast deal in 1970. | |
| Roone Arledge and the Birth of Monday Night Football | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | The hosts cover Roone Arledge and Pete Rozelle teaming up to create Monday Night Football on ABC, pioneering weekly primetime sports programming. | |
| Production Revolution: How Monday Night Football Redefined Sports Broadcasting | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | Ben details the technical innovations of MNF and the introduction of the 1993 salary cap, noting the growing threat of unshared local stadium revenue eroding competitive balance. | |
| The $112B Media Monopoly: Streaming, Sunday Ticket, and Gaming | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | The hosts map out the $112B multi-network media rights packages, YouTube taking Sunday Ticket for $2B/yr, and the massive engagement boost from legalized sports betting and fantasy. | |
| The Concussion Crisis, CTE Cover-Up, and Generational Risks | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | David and Ben confront the NFL's multi-decade CTE cover-up, generational drops in Gen Z fandom, and the institutional mishandling of Colin Kaepernick's protest. | |
| Analysis: The Lindy Effect, Global Hurdles, and College Football's Free Pipeline | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Ben debates why media rights costs explode despite audience stagnation, concluding that networks accept zero margins because live NFL games are their only remaining lifeline. | |
| Playbook Themes: Valuations, Digital Shifts, and NBA Comparisons | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Ben challenges David on whether franchise valuations are in a bubble, contrasting team trophy assets with player social media followings in the NBA. | |
| Hamilton Helmer's Seven Powers Analysis of the NFL | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Ben and David apply Hamilton Helmer's 7 Powers framework, highlighting Cornered Resource in player talent and massive Scale Economies in sports entertainment production. | |
| Bull and Bear Cases and Media Recommendations | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Returning to 2026 updates, the hosts review international games in Brazil and Germany, 76M sports bettors driving $2.3B in indirect value, and hitting $23B in annual revenue ahead of targets. | |
| Sponsor Spotlight: Sentry Error Monitoring and Developer Tools | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | David outlines the NFL's masterstroke in swapping NFL Network and its fantasy app to Disney for a 10% equity stake in ESPN while Amazon and Netflix streaming ratings set records. | |
| Cultural Resonance: The Taylor Swift Surge and Flag Football | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Ben provides quantitative metrics proving the Taylor Swift effect added millions of young female fans, while flag football emerges as the primary global and youth on-ramp. | |
| Commanders Sale, Private Equity Rules, and Valuation Explosion | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | David reveals how the $6B Washington Commanders sale prompted new private equity rules where the league skims carry from PE exits to distribute among all 32 owners. |
Statements from this episode (108)
Football is three times more popular than basketball in America
“In fact, football is more than three times as popular as the next highest sport, basketball.”
Gilbert: Super Bowl reaches over 100M viewers across two-thirds of US homes
“The Super Bowl is watched by over a hundred million viewers every year in approximately two-thirds of American households.”
NFL games comprised 82 of the top 100 TV broadcasts last year
“Of the top 100 TV broadcasts aired last year, 82 of them were NFL games.”
Gilbert: NFL divides revenues equally unlike any other sports league
“The NFL owners have made bold long-term bets in choosing to divide their revenues equally in a way that no other sports league has.”
19 fatalities in 1905 led Teddy Roosevelt to threaten banning football
“Finally, in 19 oh five, there are 19 fatalities in intercollegiate football in the U.S., and a serious injury at Harvard to one Theodore Roosevelt Jr., son of sitting president Theodore Roosevelt. So this is a major event. After that happens, Teddy Roosevelt c…”
Rosenthal: The NCAA was created in response to Roosevelt's reform threat
“In response, they create the NCAA. Like, that is the beginning of the NCAA.”
Rosenthal: Early 20th-Century Elites Viewed Professional Football as Immoral
“Many people, especially the elite, viewed professional football as actually immoral because it was profaning this thing with money. The gripe that they had against it was the money. It wasn't the game. It wasn't how the game was played.”
Gilbert: NFL eligibility rules still prohibit entering straight out of high school
“103 years later, here we are in 2023. You still can't go to the NFL out of high school. You can only go with the junior year of your graduating class from college. You can go one year early in a hundred years. That's the one concession that's been made.”
Gilbert: Green Bay Packers are the only early small-market NFL team that survived
“100% of these teams either fold or move to larger cities, except for the Packers. They're the only small market team that stood the test of time.”
Rosenthal: First NFL champions were led and coached by Fritz Pollard, a Black man
“In fact, the first NFL champions in that first season, the Akron pros, the star player and the head coach was a man named Fritz Pollard, who was black.”
The NFL banned Black players in the mid-1930s until after WWII
“Unfortunately, in the mid-thirties, supposedly after George Preston Marshall comes into the league as owner of the Boston Braves that became the Boston Redskins and then moved to Washington, D.C., at his behest, they adopt The same policy as Major League Baseb…”
Gilbert: Early NFL team owners consistently subsidized operational losses
“And keep in mind, every owner's experience to this point Is subsidizing losses. If you're bringing on other people to try and be co-owners of a team with you, or you're deciding that your family is going to sort of carry the weight the whole time, or that your…”
Cleveland Browns drew 60,000 fans in their 1946 debut game
“When play eventually starts in the 1946 season, the new Browns in Cleveland for their very first home game, draw 60,000 fans, which is more than the Rams did for the entire season the year before.”
Ben Gilbert: Paul Brown first employed year-round assistant coaching staff
“The other thing that he did, he employed an entire
Staff of assistant coaches year round.
I think it was six people in addition to him.
No other team did that.”
The LA Coliseum forced the Rams to racially integrate in 1946
“Moving the Rams to LA forces the league to integrate because the LA Coliseum, where the Rams want to play, is a publicly owned building, and it's controlled then as now
By the LA Coliseum Commission.
And when Reeves and the Rams come out to petition their case…”
NFL TV revenue did not surpass stadium ticket sales until 1977
“And to your point that the business model is around the gate or ticket sales rather than TV, that actually stayed the case until 1977. That was the first year that the NFL made more money from television revenue than from ticket sales.”
Rosenthal: NFL still uses weighted scheduling for mid-season parity
“And the NFL still does this to this day.”
The NFL did not have free agency until 1993
“There actually wasn't a concept of free agency at all until 1993 in the NFL.”
Rosenthal: Televising NFL draft was ESPN's first major coup
“It was actually the first big coup for ESPN when ESPN started in 1979 and 1980 was televising the NFL draft.”
The Rams' 1950 TV deal caused a 50% drop in stadium attendance
“So the LA Rams
They do an individual deal in 1950 with the Admiral Television Company to broadcast the Rams games.
But they put a clause in the deal because they'd seen what had happened with baseball that Admiral would guarantee revenue back to the Rams for a…”
Rosenthal: The 1958 NFL Championship Game drew 45 million TV viewers
“In particular, the 1958 NFL championship game known as the quote greatest game ever played between the Giants and the Colts led by Johnny Unitas.
A sudden death overtime, dramatic win garners forty five million TV viewers across the country, including Presiden…”
Rosenthal: AFL signed record $8.5M 5-year TV deal with ABC
“So ABC signs a league-wide five-year TV rights deal with the American Football League for eight and a half million dollars over five years. It was by far, far the single biggest sports rights TV deal in history at the time.”
Rosenthal: AFL secured historic ABC TV deal before playing a single game
“And that was before the league had played a single game.”
Rozelle made the LA Rams the NFL's most profitable team as GM
“And as GM of the Rams for only two or three years, the Rams were not a successful team on the field, even during his tenure, but he makes them into the most profitable team in the league.”
Sports Illustrated named Pete Rozelle first non-athlete Sportsman of Year in 1963
“1963, just three short years later, Sports Illustrated names Pete Rozelle at Sportsman of the Year, the first ever non-athlete that it had ever named Sportsman of the Year.”
Sacrificing individual slices for greater league pie drove NFL success
“But ultimately, they do say yes, and it really, like, speaks to the thing that has made the NFL successful, which is saying no to growing my slice of the pie to grow the greater pie.”
Rosenthal: Rozelle Negotiated $4.65M Annual CBS Deal Shared Equally Among Teams
“He negotiates a two year deal with CBS at 4.65 million dollars in rights per year to be shared equally among the teams.”
Gilbert: NFL TV Rights Contract Value Grew 2,500x Over 62 Years
“That value of that contract would grow 2500 X over the next 62 years.”
Rosenthal: Ed Sabol won 1962 NFL Championship film rights for $5,000
“He found out that the company that had won the past few years only paid 2500 dollars for the rights. So he's like, well, I can bid 5000 dollars. He wins the auction”
NFL Films was Kodak's second-largest US customer behind the military
“And they build this completely full fledged film studio that is actually The customer who buys the most film from Kodak other than the U.S. Army in the entire country.”
Gilbert: The Packers are the only NFL team publishing a public P&L
“The data comes from the Green Bay Packers annual report, because no other team publishes their P&L, but the Packers do.”
NFL generates $11B in shared national revenue and $6B locally
“That comes through shared agreements is eleven billion dollars, and then there's another six or so that comes from local revenue that teams individually generate.”
Gilbert: NFL franchises are collectively worth around $140 billion
“It is this flywheel that makes the NFL teams collectively worth something like a hundred and forty billion dollars today.”
Rosenthal: AFL signed a 5-year, $37.5M broadcast deal with NBC in 1964
“The AFL and NBC announced that they've just signed a new five year, 37.5 million dollar deal.”
Rosenthal: NFL used 'babysitting' operations to hide college rookies from AFL
“At one point, the NFL starts what they refer to as a babysitting program. This is literally a kidnapping program where they will send Agents to top college athletes who are seniors about to graduate and literally keep them out of the hands of AFL teams, not al…”
Rosenthal: AFL-NFL bidding war pushed rookie contracts near $1 million
“Pretty quickly contracts for rookies get into the close to million dollar range, which is way more than the veterans are making.”
Gilbert: 30 Million Americans Play Fantasy Football
“So any of the thirty million Americans who play fantasy football can relate to this situation.”
AFL franchises paid NFL owners $18M over 20 years to merge
“The AFL franchises did collectively pay the NFL owners eighteen million dollars to join the league. Over a 20 year period.”
The AFL's $18M merger fee went solely to the Giants and 49ers
“The eighteen million actually didn't go to all the NFL teams. They went to the Giants and the 40 Niners. Because those were the two teams most affected by now having another NFL team in their city.”
Gilbert: Congress and LBJ approved antitrust exemption for AFL-NFL merger
“So in October, Congress actually passed a law to allow this merger and grant yet another antitrust exemption. This time, Lyndon Johnson signed it into law.”
CBS and NBC each paid $1M to broadcast and $1M to promote Super Bowl I
“They each end up paying one million dollars for the rights to both broadcast it. So this game now is going to be broadcast to the nation on both CBS and NBC, and in addition to them each spending a million dollars for the rights to this one game, they also bot…”
Gilbert: Super Bowl I captured a 79% share of US television viewers
“This ended up actually having a 79% share of American TV, whatever Nielsen measures. So it's the share of all the TVs that are turned on at this point. Because it was on two networks.”
Rosenthal: Super Bowl I only filled two-thirds of the LA Coliseum
“The LA Coliseum is pretty big. It seats about 95,000 people. Only 63,000 people showed up live. There was only two thirds. Attendance. Live at the game.”
ABC Acquired Exclusive Rights to Monday Night Football for $8.5 Million Per Season
“ABC gets exclusive rights to Monday Night Football for a new deal, new product, 8.5 million dollars per season.”
Gilbert: Media Buyers Should Pay for Minimum Content Reaching Maximum Aggregate Audience
“What you want to be paying for is the smallest amount of content possible that gets distributed to the widest audience possible. So you actually should be willing to pay up to twenty million as long as the aggregate number of viewers that you get on that day i…”
Rosenthal: The First Monday Night Football Broadcast Drew 60 Million U.S. Households
“The first Monday Night Football game that airs that season is watched by sixty million U.S. Households.”
Gilbert: Monday Night Football and NFL Films invented weekly sports highlight reels
“Between Sunday and Monday, the NFL films team would go and take all of the footage from the game the previous day, cut up a highlight reel, And as soon as possible, get that to whatever city the Monday Night Football broadcast was happening in, so that they co…”
Rosenthal: Richard Nixon phoned in a play for a Redskins playoff game
“Nixon literally phoned in a play for a Redskins playoff game from the White House.”
Gilbert: Pete Rozelle made a mistake by gating NFL broadcast distribution
“And this is one of the things that Roselle got super wrong. The right thing was, as soon as possible, the NFL to get as much distribution as possible, because the TV rights would become the most important revenue line, but also the thing that most fueled the f…”
Rosenthal: The salary cap preserves NFL competitive balance despite diverging local revenues
“And I think the thing that keeps the competitive balance in place, even as revenue diverges, is the salary cap.”
Gilbert: Unshared NFL team revenue grew from 12% in 1994 to over 30% today
“Unshared revenue for teams grew from 12% in 1994 to 21% in 2003 and is over 30% today.”
The NFL is the largest single-property media business in the world
“I'm pretty sure the NFL is the largest single media business in the world. Not an aggregate diversified media business, but like, if you consider the league as a single property, then I think it is the largest individual single property in the world.”
Gilbert: NFL generates $18B annually, expected to reach $25B by 2027
“Because the NFL does eighteen billion a year in revenue right now, which is expected to grow to twenty five billion by 20 27.”
The NFL's 10-year media rights deals total $112 billion
“I mean, this TV contract that they just signed, the ten-year deal is for a hundred and twelve billion dollars across all these entities.”
Rosenthal: EA Sports' Madden licensing deal reported at $1.6B over 5 years
“So I don't think it's public, but it was reported that the latest Madden licensing deal with EA was a total of 1.6 billion dollars for a five year rights.”
Gilbert: Fantasy football and sports betting drove the NFL's modern dominance
“The thing that powered the NFL to be such a dominant force in society today is fantasy football and sports betting.”
Gilbert: 46 million Americans bet on the NFL this year
“The current estimates are that forty six million Americans or 18% of betting age U.S. Adults bet on the NFL this year.”
81% of sports bettors wager on the NFL versus 50% for NBA
“Variety reports 81% of sports bettors bet On NFL games versus just over 50% for the NBA and 44% for Major League Baseball.”
Shared revenue is $350M per team, but Cowboys top $1B total
“This past year, each team got right around three hundred and fifty million from the shared league revenue, but that Extra local revenue obviously can cause a gigantic swing in the team's total revenue, and Forbes has an estimate that the Cowboys made over a bi…”
Gilbert: NFL settled a billion-dollar lawsuit over CTE
“I mean, the NFL settled a billion-dollar lawsuit to pay out victims and families of CTE.”
The NFL didn't acknowledge the link between football and CTE until 2016
“The NFL didn't acknowledge that until 2016.”
Only 23% of Gen Z consider the NFL their favorite sport
“And if you look at the data, US adults as a whole, 33% say the NFL is their favorite professional sports league. But if you look at Gen Z, only 23% of Gen Z say That the NFL is their favorite professional sport, so 10 points less than the broader population, a…”
Gilbert: The NFL generates twice the revenue of the NBA
“From a revenue perspective, the NFL today makes twice as much as basketball, but that's a pretty damning trend, looking at where Gen Z's interests lie.”
Gilbert: Roger Goodell makes over $40M annually to serve team owners
“Roger Goodell makes 40 plus million dollars a year to do what the owners want, and they hire him to do that, and they will fire him if he doesn't do that.”
The NFL blackballed Colin Kaepernick following his 2016 national anthem protests
“The NFL blackballed Colin Kaepernick after this.”
Rosenthal: Kaepernick controversy would not have happened in the NBA
“I don't think this ever would have happened or happened in the same way in the NBA. The NBA embraced both social media and the strategy of letting players have their own platforms, be their own voices and promote the league through that.”
Gilbert: NFL broadcast commercial counts held flat or decreased over 15 years
“They've actually held flat, or in some cases even decreased the number of commercials over the last 15 years in NFL broadcasts.”
Major broadcast TV networks would not exist today without NFL football
“For those networks for the last decade, run the counterfactual of the networks no longer had football. They don't exist anymore. This has been life support for them for a decade.”
Gilbert: NFLPA has negotiated for half of NFL revenue
“The NFLPA has managed to negotiate for half the revenue.”
The NFL's cultural mindshare vastly exceeds its $18B annual revenue scale
“On a revenue basis, you know, it's an eighteen billion dollar a year revenue business. The NFL actually owns way more mind share than its revenue would illustrate. A strange statement to make is the NFL is an oddly small business for how large a role it plays …”
Gilbert: Networks will overpay for NFL rights until economics break
“I continue to think that networks are just on this treadmill where they're just going to keep paying more and more and more for NFL rights until is actually non-economic for them to do so, but then they'll be in so deep that it's pretty hard to recover from th…”
LeBron James has 10x the social media following of top NFL stars
“LeBron has well over a hundred million social media followers. Instagram alone. And the two largest NFL players by social media following are OBJ and Tom Brady, both of which are in the low teens. So like a 10 X difference.”
Gilbert: Top NBA and soccer stars out-earn all NFL players
“The superstars in the NBA, like LeBron James, including sponsorships, makes one hundred and twenty seven million dollars a year. There is no one in the sport of football that comes close. There are three basketball and three soccer players at the top of the li…”
Rosenthal: Early NFL counter-positioned MLB by embracing television over gate revenue
“During the dawn of the TV era, I think they were counter positioned against major league baseball in that while decline in revenue from the gate by adding TV certainly was a hit to them. It wasn't as much of an existential hit in the way it was for major leagu…”
Gilbert: NFL broadcast partners pay roughly $44M per game
“I think it's about forty four million dollars per game is effectively What the average broadcast partner is paying the NFL just for like one single game.”
Gilbert: Research shows taxpayer-funded stadiums are at best breakeven for communities
“And every piece of research you read there is like, yeah, they're at best breakeven for communities, unless it's part of some like larger economic redevelopment thing.”
Rosenthal: NFL teams trade on trophy prestige rather than rational economic multiples
“Even as the NFL has become this incredible business, they don't trade at rational economic prices because the people buying them are doing net present happiness value equations, you know, not economic value.”
Gilbert: NFL plays seven international games across five countries
“There are now seven international games across five countries, and they have publicly stated that there is a goal to get to 16 international games per year.”
Gilbert: NFL regular season TV viewership averaged 18.7M per game
“The regular season had its best TV ratings in 36 years. The league posted an average delivery of 18.7 million viewers per game. That is a 10% gain year over year.”
Gilbert: NFL earns $200M annually from gambling sponsorships
“The estimates are that the NFL's gambling related sponsorships are about two hundred million dollars a year between DraftKings, FanDuel, and Caesars.”
Sports betting provides a $2.3B indirect annual benefit to the NFL
“Nielsen estimated the indirect impact like we were talking about on the league and in every way that it helps the flywheel to be about 2.3 billion dollars per year that the league benefits from the legalization of sports betting.”
Gilbert: NFL will easily beat $25B annual revenue target by 2027
“The league now does over twenty three billion dollars per year across all teams. That's on track to surpass twenty five billion, which was their goal by 2027, they're going to easily beat this number.”
Gilbert: TNF on Prime averaged a record 15.33M viewers in 2025
“So in the 2025 season, Thursday Night Football on Prime averaged 50 15.33 million viewers in the highest ever average for Thursday night games across its 20 year history.”
Gilbert: NFL Christmas games on Netflix averaged 30M viewers
“The Netflix Christmas games averaged thirty million people.”
The NFL traded NFL Network to ESPN for a 10% equity stake
“So August, 20, 25, the NFL reached a deal with Disney and ESPN to essentially sell the NFL network, the NFL's cable network and the NFL's official fantasy app to ESPN for a 10% equity stake in all of ESPN in return for this swap.”
Super Bowl draws 127M viewers compared to 10M for NBA Finals
“The Super Bowl draws one hundred twenty seven million viewers, and that is growing. The NBA Finals per game draws just ten million viewers, down from its peak in the 25 to thirty million during the Michael Jordan era in the nineties.”
Gilbert: Patrick Mahomes earns $90M and Josh Allen earns $75M annually
“Pat Mahomes is making 90 annually, and about half of that is his Chiefs deal, and about half of that is other endorsements. State Farm, Adidas, Oakley, Head & Shoulders, equity ownership. And then it's not just him, too. You got Josh Allen at seventy-five mill…”
The NFL added 4M female fans in Taylor Swift's first year
“In the first year of the relationship, September of 23 to September of 24, the NFL added four million female fans. The Chiefs were 3.4 million of those.”
Gilbert: Super Bowl 58 saw 24% viewership surge among young women
“Super Bowl 58 in February of 24 had a 24% increase in 18 to twenty-four-year-old women and a nine percent increase across all women.”
Youth tackle football decreased 5% while flag football grew 16%
“From 2019 to 20 23, tackle football decreased five percent for the youngest age group playing, but flag football increased by 16%.”
Gilbert: NFL will soon produce international stars through flag football
“It's only a short number of years before we see a meaningful presence of NFL stars who are not from America, because they sort of grew up playing flag, and then when they hit 1314, 15, started playing tackle football”
Gilbert: NCAA schools will begin paying athletes directly next year under salary caps
“The interesting thing is next year is when the schools actually will start being able to pay the players directly. And there's like a salary cap of sorts.”
Gilbert: NIL money will improve NFL rookie classes as players develop longer in college
“Because now that players can make money in college, there's not as much of an incentive to get thrust into the NFL before they're ready. They can sort of develop longer mentally and physically before coming to the NFL, so we may have sort of better rookie clas…”
NFL principal owners must hold at least 30% pure cash equity
“Every other team in the NFL must be controlled by a single principal owner who is a natural person and not a corporation. And that person and their family must have a minimum equity stake in their franchise of 30%. And that must be pure equity, like funded wit…”
Rosenthal: NFL limits team debt to $800M, doubling during acquisition
“So in your capital structure, you can have a maximum of eight hundred million dollars of debt that you carry. You can have about twice that if you are buying a team. So they let you go double it in the process of purchasing to have more debt to finance the dea…”
Rosenthal: NFL franchises use GP/LP structures with max 24 minority owners
“In addition to the principal owner, that person is allowed to have up to 24 other minority owners as part of their ownership group. But those 24 other people must be silent with no operational control. And the way they actually structure this is hilarious. The…”
Rosenthal: 24 NFL owners can force another owner to sell
“If there is a super majority vote of at least 24 of the other principal team owners, they can force one of the other owners to divest the team.”
Rosenthal: Commanders sold for over $6B, requiring $1.8B in cash equity
“The commanders ultimately sell for just north of six billion dollars. So the minimum required cash equity check here is at least 1.8 billion dollars that you need somebody who just has that liquidity lying around that they could in a fast process invest in an …”
Rosenthal: NFL owners voted in summer 2024 to allow private equity
“So the next offseason, in summer of 24, they vote to allow private equity into the NFL.”
NFL caps private equity investment to four approved firms at 10% equity
“The NFL will approve a set list of private equity firms, large private equity firms who have the opportunity, the option, the ability to invest in league franchises. That list is vetted by the NFL subject to change. And if you are not on that list, you are not…”
The NFL skims a share of private equity exit returns for all owners
“Upon any eventual sale or monetization of the ownership stake that private equity would have in an NFL franchise, A portion of the returns on that investment get skimmed off the top and go back to the NFL and then get distributed equally among all 32 NFL team …”
Average NFL team value rose 62% to $7.1 billion
“So as of today, Forbes estimates the average team is worth 7.1 billion dollars up from four and a half billion when we did the episode. Team valuations now are two hundred and twenty eight billion in total. Up from one hundred and forty billion when we recorde…”
Gilbert: NFL revenue multiple expanded from 6.4x to 10.7x over five years
“Forbes now estimates the annual revenue multiple in the NFL is 10.7 x, which is up from nine x in 2024 and 6.4 x five years ago. So in five years it went from 6.4 x to 10.7.”
Forbes estimates the Dallas Cowboys are valued at $13 billion
“Forbes now estimates the Cowboys are worth thirteen billion dollars.”
Gilbert: Cowboys generated $1.2B revenue and $630M operating income in 2024
“The estimated 20 24 revenue of the Cowboys was 1.2 billion dollars while posting an operating income of six hundred and thirty million.”