The NFL divvied up more than $6 billion in revenue over the 2013 season, according to documents released by the Green Bay Packers on Thursday. The Packers are the NFL's only publicly-owned team, and are thus required to release financial figures.
Split 32 ways, each NFL team took home $187.7 million last season alone from television, sponsorship and retail sales. And we in college sports drop our jaws when the Big Ten announces it will soon dispurse $40 million to its 14 members.
At $6 billion, the NFL took in nearly enough revenue to buy the entire GDP of the nation of Guinea.
The NFL's revenues are up 56 percent - and that's after adjusting for inflation - since 2006 (and up 4.3 percent from 2012 alone) according to ESPN's Darren Rovell. The numbers will only climb higher as television rights continue to skyrocket. CBS's new Thursday Night package, costing nearly $300 million for only eight games, kicks in this year. DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket package, worth $1 billion a year, expires after this season.
This fall, the NFL's salary cap rises from $124 million to $133 million. Now let's consider that each of the NFL's 32 franchises will rake in $156 million - close to $5 billion total - from its contracts with Fox, CBS, NBC, ESPN, DirecTV and its radio partners. That's a net gain of more than $30 million before the league sells a single sponsorship or jersey.
Let's all remember this the next time there's a lockout.