NFL Financials: 5 Different Evaluations of the Numbers

We often get obsessed with statistics. Will a team go 19-0 this year? Can a running back break 2,000 yards again? Will someone throw 50-plus touchdowns? Will Rex Ryan wear the first 10-foot belt?

Yet, we forget about the only unit of measurement that ever really matters to the NFL: dollars. 

That point has been hammered home to a degree with the recent lockout. But how is the NFL doing financially, especially as it relates to other leagues?

WR Hambrecht+Co Sports Finance Group released their The US Professional Sports Market and Franchise Value Report, an impressive look across the business of sports as it stands today. Let’s take a look at a handful of stats you may not have known about the NFL. Unless stated otherwise, all numbers in this article are according to and from that report.

The Great Race of League Valuations

In 2000, let’s say that I had said to you, “Give me $1,000 bucks. I’m going to invest it in the NFL. But you only get your money back if it doubles in ten years. If it doesn’t double, I get to keep your cash.”

Would you have done it?

In retrospect, of course. But at the time? Doubtful. Banking on a 100 percent return over a decade is a daring bet, no matter how much you love football.

Yet the NFL brand has actually grown 142 percent in that time period. In 2000, the league was valued at $423 million; in 2010, they were worth $1.022 billion.

Each franchise saw an average increase in value of $599 million. That's more than the 2010 valuations of the NBA and NHL combined.

Here is how the NFL stacks up against the other leagues in terms of valuation. (In millions of dollars)

	2000	2010	%Change
NFL	$423	$1,022	142%
MLB	$233	$491	111%
NBA	$207	$369	78%
NHL	$148	$228	54%

Certainly would have beat investing in Wall Street over that time.

(Note: Average franchise value multiplied by number of franchises does not equal league value.)

Speaking of Long Term Investments

It’s no secret that there are families who’ve owned teams for generations. The Rooneys and The Maras come to mind instantly and their stories are super annoying.

“Old Art Rooney bought the Steelers in 1933 for $2,500 as a birthday present for his son Dan…”

"Old Tim Mara bought the team in 1925 for $500 and..." And that’s the point where your hearing gives out and you start to talk yourself into putting a couple thousand bucks into an MLL or UFL team. Today the Steelers are worth $996 million and the Giants, $1.182 billion. It’s not even worth figuring out what the return on investment is.

But a few (relative) latecomers have made impressive investments also.

Jerry Jones (technically “The Jerry Jones Group”) bought the Cowboys for $150 million in 1989. Today, Forbes values America’s Team at $1.805 billion.

Bob Kraft bought the Patriots in 1994 for $172 million, and today, Forbes values Belichick’s Boys at $1.367 billion. 

As recently as 2004, Stephen Bisciotti bought the Ravens for $600 million, and in 2010, Forbes valued the team at $1.073.

Kinda makes it hard to have too much sympathy for the owners during the lockout...

(And yes, I know what inflation is. If you’d like to correct for it in the comments, go for it.)

NFL Ticket Prices Going Up

From 2006 to 2010, the average ticket price of an NFL game increased by just over $14, from $62.38 to $76.47. This represents about a 22 percent increase. To give you a sense of how much the NFL has grown as a brand—with merchandise, advertising and the rest—the estimated revenue from regular season tickets for the NFL has actually gone down, from 16.9 percent to 16.6 percent, over that same time period.

In essence, the NFL has increased gate prices by almost a quarter over five seasons,and that revenue stream now contributes less to the overall bottom line than it had been. Impressive.

Here are the average ticket prices for the other leagues. This should make it clearer why the NBA is going to have a real lockout and the NFL’s was just rich people waving their hands.

	2006	2010	% Change
NFL	$62.38	$76.47	23%
MLB	$22.21	$26.74	20%
NBA	$46.99	$47.66	1%
NHL	$43.13	$54.20	26%

What About Individual Team Ticket Changes?

That's not to say that every team has raised their ticket prices at the same rate as the NFL. The Raiders ($62.23), Redskins ($79.13) and Eagles ($69.00) have all maintained the same average ticket price from 2006 to 2010. The first two make sense, considering they haven't had much success to charge their fans for, but the Eagles steady ticket price is a little more curious. Guess we've all learned the hard way that it's never worth making Philly fans mad.

The 49ers had a curious rise from $63.70 to $76.39, a solid 20 percent increase from 2006 to 2010. I say curious because the Niners haven't broken .500 in that period and they still play in the abandoned parking garage they call Candlestick. Guess we're just seeing more expert management moves by the DeBartolo/York crew.

News stadiums were responsible for some pretty impressive ticket hikes in the last five years. The New Meadowlands was responsible for a $35.10 and $39.68 increase for the Giants and Jets; their average ticket prices are now $111.69 and $114.64, respectively.

America's Team certainly wasn't America's Deal and definitely explains the Cowboys' incredible franchise valuation. Average ticket price for a game in 2006 was $66.12; last season, it was $110.20. A 67 percent increase in just five years. 

(Individual section prices may have fluctuated. Don't have that data.)

Conclusion

It's always interesting to take a look at the actual numbers and know what kind of game we're talking about. The NFL lockout will end soon and we'll be back to our regularly scheduled season. The question will be just if we, the fans, want to continue ponying up so much dough for a product that doesn't seem that concerned about its customers in the first place.

My recommendation: DVR the game and watch it in the comfort of your own home without commercials. Then these numbers would look awfully different. Actually, they'd just look awful...like the NBA's.

[Follow Caleb on Twitter or Bleacher Report if you want more musings. He also wrote a book called The St George's Angling Club, which you can buy on Amazon.]