NFL Will Likely Make $25 Billion in Yearly Revenue By 2027

Published: May 30, 2024

NFL Will Likely Make $25 Billion in Yearly Revenue By 2027

By Movieguide® Contributor

With Netflix picking up two NFL Christmas Day games, the football league is planning to reach its goal of $25 billion in yearly revenue by 2027.

USA Today reported that in 2010, NFL commissioner Robert Goodell “declared his goal for league revenues to hit $25 billion by 2027. At the time, the NFL generated around $8 billion in annual revenues.”

“It certainly is an aggressive number,” Cowboys COO Stephen Jones told Goodell at the time, “but it is certainly one we would like to get to.”

“I thought then, it certainly put the carrot out there. But he was more right than he was wrong,” said Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones recently. “We’re almost there. Could exceed it.”

With the help of Netflix, that goal is even closer to reality.

Movieguide® recently reported:

Netflix has secured the rights to host two NFL Christmas Day games this year.

The streamer will also show at least one Christmas game in 2025 and 2026.

“The Netflix Christmas Day games will also air on broadcast TV in the competing teams’ cities, and they’ll be available on U.S. mobile devices with NFL+. Netflix will pay about $150 million total for the Christmas Day games this year ($75 million per game),” Variety reported.

Those Christmas Day games will feature the Kansas City Chiefs, the reigning Super Bowl Champions, vs. Pittsburgh Steelers as well as the Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans.

Per USA Today, “Beyond the immediate impact on the bottom line, the Netflix agreement underscores the options looming for the league if it decides to opt out of its existing media deals in 2029, which seems like a no-brainer at the moment. The NFL struck its existing broadcast deals in 2021 for $113 billion over 11 years but can opt out after seven years.”

“This will not be the last Netflix deal. The next one will be bigger,” said NFL financial executive Andrew Brandt.

Even though Netflix doesn’t plan to dive deeper into streaming live sports, the added NFL games will help the platform generate more subscribers and broaden the sport’s fan base, both at home and internationally.

“It’s a reflection of the changing media landscape,” Goodell said. “The reality is, it’s changing before our eyes.”

“All of the streaming platforms have allowed us to reach a younger average audience age – another very important factor for us,” he added. “There are several people who are fans of the NFL who aren’t on pay systems anymore because they are changing. People are leaving in some cases, but we’re still committed to those platforms. Our job is to be everywhere our fans are for us to be the first sport that Netflix is invested in to bring to their subscribers, I think is a statement about our content and the potential opportunity between the two.”

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