With NBC, CBS, and FOX each reportedly paying more than $1 billion per year and ESPN reportedly paying nearly $2 billion per year for Monday Night Football and DirecTV paying more than $1 billion per year for NFL Sunday Ticket and Verizon paying a bunch of money for the right to stream games on mobile devices, the NFL will be generating more money than ever for the privilege to televise games. Daniel Kaplan and John Ourand of SportsBusiness Journal recently estimated that the TV deals could generate a combined $7 billion per year by 2014.
Most of that money will go to the men who play the game.
With the recent labor talks bogged down on the question of whether the two sides would share all money on a 50-50 basis, the logjam eventually broke when NFL treasurer Joe Siclare suggested the use of three different percentages, with the players getting 40 percent of local team revenues, 45 percent of the money generated via NFL Ventures (merchandising and promotions), and a whopping 55 percent of the broadcast money.
At $7 billion per year, the players will get $3.85 billion annually. Just from the TV deals.
So while the owners likely will be popping bottles tonight to celebrate the new deal, the players should be breaking out a little bubbly, too.