NFL “Paying In $2.7 Billion In Sponsorship Revenue For 2022 Season”

The NFL booked a record $2.7 billion in sponsorship revenue for the 2022 season, thanks to new deals with alcohol and technology companies, according to SponsorUnited.

Overall, the league’s 32 teams raised $2.05 billion from sponsors this season, while the NFL added another $650 million, thanks in part to a $250 million deal with Apple Music for the Super Bowl halftime show . This is the first time NFL teams have collectively generated more than $2 billion in sponsorship revenue.

The AFC South champions Jacksonville Jaguars led the way with 170 deals, followed by the Dallas Cowboys (140) and the Buffalo Bills (135).

The NFL booked a record $2.7 billion in sponsorship revenue for the 2022 season, thanks to new deals with alcohol and technology companies, according to SponsorUnited

The NFL accounted for 82 of the nation’s top 100 television programs for the calendar year

And profits are likely to improve next season as the NFL continues to benefit from the international marketing rights it began granting in 2021.

“The NFL continues to impress not only with the level of sponsorship revenue, but also with the diversification of the industries that leverage these partnerships,” said Bob Lynch, CEO of SponsorUnited.

The NFL currently makes about $10 billion a year from media deals with NBC, ABC/ESPN, Fox, CBS and Amazon, which now broadcasts Thursday Night Football.

Additionally, the league’s NFL Sunday Ticket deal with Google goes into effect next season, which could be worth as much as $2.5 billion per season, according to The New York Times.

The sponsorship news comes after it was revealed the NFL claimed 82 of the most watched television shows in the US for 2022.

That’s a modern record, according to Sportico’s chart, and just the tip of the NFL’s iceberg-sized media influence. The Shield accounted for nearly 10 percent of all live television viewership in 2022, generating a staggering 171.3 billion television ad views.

That the league wields such dominance over the American media landscape is no surprise. Just a year earlier, the NFL had set a then-record 75 of the top 100 shows, and that trend had evolved over decades.

That the NFL outshines the competition is more of a surprise.

Neither the NBA, NHL, nor Major League Baseball has made the top 100 in a single event. The only other sports broadcasts on the list were the College Football Playoff, the NCAA Men’s Final Four, the Kentucky Derby and the World Cup, which finished 38th (Argentina-France Final) and 58th.

Speaking of the Super Bowl, Los Angeles’ Bengals-Rams Tilt unsurprisingly took first place overall with 99.2 million viewers – up from 91 million in 2021.

Most notably, the NFL has so far seemed immune to cable cutting and other trends negatively affecting the industry. According to Sportico, pay-TV bundles are down 10 percent, and the top scripted television show, CBS’ FBI, attracts an average live audience of just 7.21 million.

For comparison, the NFL national Sunday afternoon window, shared by Fox and CBS, averages 25.8 million live viewers. Meanwhile, NBC’s Sunday Night Football gets 19 million live views per show.

So while the overall television viewership pie is shrinking, the NFL’s share continues to grow.

Other contenders included Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on March 1 as war unfolded in Ukraine and the Thanksgiving Day parade.

Another unscripted live show, the Academy Awards, drew 16.62 million viewers at number 77 on the list, improving on a historically poor performance in 2021. Of course, the 2022 show was carried by Will Smith, the host Chris Rock hit in the middle of the show.

The Winter Olympics were conspicuously absent from the top 100, save for No. 36: A 10 p.m. time slot carried by its opener, the Super Bowl.