The Business of the NFL

NFL is a TV monster, leading all at midseason

While some teams are struggling to sell out games, and many games have been blacked out in the local markets this NFL season, the TV ratings are through the roof and since the NFL shares its TV revenue with all 32 team equally that is good news for all.

NFL to hold more games in Great Britian

London is calling, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is listening. Tomorrow, for the third year in a row, the NFL will hold a game at London’s Wembley Stadium. The New England Patriots will take to the field in Wembley to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Wembley stadium sits around 90,000 fans, and the place will be packed for tomorrow’s game. This has led the NFL to plan for staging more games in the UK, and possibly even placing a NFL franchise there one day. The NFL is looking at venues in Manchester, and Glasgow, Scotland as the sites for future games.

NFL changes ownership rules

No other American sports leagues have as many rules for its owners as the NFL does. NFL owners are not allowed to own other sports franchises; the only exception to that rule was when the league let NFL owners purchase Arena Football teams in their own markets.

Biggest NFL Stadium naming rights deals

A lot of older, hard core fans do not like their NFL teams selling away the naming rights to their stadiums. However these deals are adding some serious revenue for the teams, and that is never a bad thing. While stadium naming right deal steal away some of the character of the newer stadiums, no one can fault the teams for taking advantage of this revenue stream.

Top selling NFL jerseys

A lot of people forget that in the end all sports is a business. Somewhere up the food chain is a guy who is keeping count of tickets sold, merchandise sold, money made and money spent. So when a NFL team can sign a player that helps them move swag, they have a done, a great thing for their business.

A look at the measures NFC teams have taken to sell tickets

Much like the teams in the AFC, there were five teams in the NFC that had to do little or nothing to keep their ticket sales strong. The only real difference is the NFC features a team, the Dallas Cowboys, opening a new stadium, and a team that was already doing many of the new initiatives to other team in the Seattle Seahawks.

A look at the measures AFC teams have taken to sell tickets

It is not news that we are in a severe recession, and it is affecting everything from car sales to sports teams. With that in mind here is a look at the lengths some AFC NFL teams have gone to keep ticket sales strong.

NFL week one dominates TV ratings

The NFL just finished up week one of the 2009 season, and dominated the TV ratings in every single way. They dominated the ratings in all thirty NFL TV markets, and now fans, TV execs, and the NFL itself must work to not derail this kind of success with labor strife. This is the NFL and the show must go on.

Will the 2010 NFL season go uncapped?

For some reason, that remains a secret, the NFL Owners opted out of the current Collective Bargaining agreement wit hit’s player unions last year. This effectively ended, the agreement even though it could have gone on as is for two more seasons. Now if a new CBA cannot be reached by 2010 the Salary Cap in the NFL, which has existed since 1993, would become a mute point for the 2010 season. What happens after that is anyone’s guess at this point.

With soft ticket sales, NFL teams prepare for TV blackouts

In 2008 NFL teams had nine games blacked out from their local markets. These nine blackouts were contained to three pretty bad Football teams; the Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders, and St. Louis Rams. Now in a bad economy, the NFL and its teams are preparing to have many games blacked out from local markets.

The Bengals are unwilling to give Smith fair contract

This is one of those stories that makes one wonder how incompetent can NFL owners really be. This story alone, aside from the decade of losing, ranks the Cincinnati Bengals among one of the worst NFL franchises. It is no winder that the Bengals are only one of five NFL teams that do not employ a General Manager.

What are the Arizona Cardinals worth?

The team that came to be known as the Arizona Cardinals was originally founded in 1898, and is among the oldest professional football team in America. It is also one of few NFL teams that have called three separate states home.

What was the American Football League?

Since it is the 50th anniversary of the inaugural AFL Season, and the NFL will pay homage to that league throughout the 2009 season, including having the Hall of Fame game dominated by the nostalgia of the old AFL, the question becomes what exactly was the AFL?

49ers and Crabtree at an impasse

The San Francisco 49ers and Michel Crabtree cannot come to an agreement on a rookie deal for the rookie wide out from Texas Tech. Of course we are quick to judge that this is a problem with a player, or with the team trying to get a quality talent on the cheap, however it may not be quite that simple.

What kind of contracts did the 2008 first round NFL draft picks sign?

A look at all 32 contracts for 2008 First Round Draft picks

What are the Atlanta Falcons worth?

The Atlanta Falcons have been a part of the NFL since 1965 when then Commissioner Pete Rozelle awareded the franchise to Rankin Smith. Since that time the Falcons have appeared in one Super Bowl, won three division titles, and appeared in the playoffs nine times. They have an overall record, through the 2008 NFL season of 275-399-6.

What kind of contracts did the 2009 first round NFL draft picks sign?

A look at all 32 contracts for 2009 first round draft picks

What are the Detroit Lions worth?

William Clay Ford became the sole owner of the Detroit Lions in 1964 buying out his partners in the team for 5 million dollars. Since then the Lions have not had much success on the field, and little success in the business world. Ford hired Matt Millen to be the General Manager of this team in 2001 and the team had not had a winning record since. They capped this infamous run off by being the first NFL team to go 0-16 in 2008. However based on how the NFL does business the Lions are not completely worthless.

How does the NFL salary cap work?

Before we get in the mechanics of the NFL Salary cap a few things about NFL contracts must be made clear. The most important of these is that NFL contracts are not guaranteed. A NFL team can cut a NFL player during his contract and the remainder of that contract does not account against the cap.

Best owners in sports: 2009 NFL edition

The thing about the NFL is when it comes to owners there is the Rooney family and there is everyone else. The Rooney family has been in control of the Pittsburg Steelers since their inception. Along their way they have won 6 Super Bowls, 7 conference titles, 19 division titles, and have appeared In the NFL playoffs 25 times. In each of these categories they lead the NFL.

Worst owners in sports: 2009 NFL Edition

No American sports league has a bigger collection of rich, ego maniacal personalities leading the helm of sports teams than the NFL. For all the claims that these 32 men stand together against all foes seems to get thrown out of the window as owners see each other and the NFL itself.

The short list of St. Louis Rams potential buyers

It is not news that the St. Louis Rams are for sale. However there may be a few developments that cold keep the team in St. Louis, which of course is bad news for Minnesota Vikings fans since a stadium will be built in Los Angeles and some team will take the city up on the offer to have a new stadium.