REPORT: Football vs Football: The Money

Exploring the Disparity in Valuations: Premier League Teams vs NFL Franchises.

Author: David Skilling on X/Twitter

Note: If you read Original Football, you will have received this post but I thought it was very relevant to the Culture of Sport newsletter so I am sharing it here as well. That said, I have made additional notes at the bottom.

Former Premier League player Harry Kane: Copyright NFL

The Premier League and the NFL stand as two titans in sports leagues, commanding vast audiences and generating significant revenue. However, a curious paradox exists: NFL franchises are often valued much higher than their Premier League counterparts, despite the Premier League boasting a far larger global audience.

Why would that be the case? I decided to do a bit of research and this is what I found.

To start, here are the top 20 most valuable sports teams in the world.

Charts from Give Me Sport

Among the top 20 most valuable sports teams: 12 are NFL franchises, 3 are from the NBA, 3 are from the MLB, 2 are from the world of football (soccer for clarity), and only 1 of those is from the Premier League (Manchester United).

Here are some of the reasons why the Premier League teams fall behind the NFL in brand valuations.

Broadcasting Deals: A Tale of Two Models

The NFL's broadcasting deals are a cornerstone of its financial might. The league's recent agreements (2023) with major networks and streamers like ESPN, NBC, CBS, Fox, Amazon and YouTube, collectively amount to over $125 billion. This averages around $10 billion annually as the main agreements run until 2033. The NFL’s revenue-sharing model ensures that this windfall is distributed equally among all 32 teams, providing each franchise with a stable and substantial income.

In contrast, the Premier League's broadcasting revenue, while substantial, is distributed differently. The domestic broadcasting rights for the 2022-2025 cycle are worth around £5.1 billion ($6.8 billion), with international rights bringing in over £4.2 billion ($5.6 billion), that’s $3.9 billion annually compared to the NFL’s $10 billion.

It’s worth noting, that the NFL’s distribution is across 32 teams compared to the Premier League’s 20 teams and the Premier League has an uneven distribution based on league positions and televised matches, meaning the top teams get the lion’s share.