Coping With “NFL Withdrawal”: T-Minus 22 Weeks Until Next Season
“NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has set a goal to push annual revenues to $25 billion by 2027.”
–ESPN
If you want to triple revenues as Goodell aims to do, there are really only four strategies:
1. Sell more tickets (by adding franchises, building bigger stadiums, etc.);
2. Sell costlier tickets (raise prices);
3. Find/increase ancillary sources of income (such as licensing, concessions, and parking — plus expanding to new TV markets);
4. All of the above.
The World’s Most Profitable Non-Profit
While expanding to new markets (starting with major European capitals) is clearly on the NFL’s agenda, the truly low-hanging fruit is the calendar.
Specifically, there are still seven months in which the league plays no professional games (August is devoted to exhibition matches).
Once upon a time, grocery stores, fast-food restaurants, and even TV stations routinely closed or shut down part of each day.
Now?
Everything seems to be open (or at least accessible online) 24/7.
Look for the NFL to do the same (if you’re keeping track, that would be a variation of strategy #1, namely, “play more games . . . sell more tickets”).
P.S.: Of course, the other side of the revenue equation is keeping costs — both labor and capital — in check. See, “NFL Economics: ‘Win-Win’ (Lose).”
Not to mention limiting liability claims to former players for things like disabling concussions; as well as minimizing — or eliminating — taxes (amazingly, the IRS recognizes the NFL as a “non-profit”).
