Also pays a reported US$660 million a year to show 11 Thursday night games “The CBA with the players and the recently completed media agreements provide the foundation for us to enhance the quality of the NFL experience for our fans,” Goodell said back in March. “And one of the benefits of each team playing 17 regular season games is the ability for us to continue to grow our game around the world.”ĬBS (US$1 billion a year): Deal includes AFC package, Thanksgiving day game and most AFC playoff fixturesįox (US$1.1 billion a year): Deal includes NFC package, Thanksgiving day game and most NFC playoff fixtures. With those negotiations now complete, and a pandemic-disrupted season now in the past, the NFL will be hoping that this year will be all about the football. For the first time ever, the league will have a 17-game season in 2021, a move which Goodell has hailed as “a monumental moment in NFL history”. Indeed, the NFL suffered a 20 per cent drop in revenue last year, according to Forbes annual list of the most valuable NFL teams, which also estimates that teams’ average operating income fell to US$7.1 million last year, down from US$109 million in 2019.ĭespite the financial consequences of the pandemic, it would appear that NFL teams haven’t become any less valuable, with Forbes calculating that the average franchise valuation has actually increased by 14 per cent over the last year to US$3.48 billion – the biggest gain in five years. NFL teams will also be buoyed by the league’s newly signed domestic media rights deals with CBS, ESPN/ABC, Fox, NBC and Amazon, which are reportedly set to bring in more than US$100 billion over 11 seasons from 2023. On a more positive note, all 32 franchises have been given the go-ahead to have full stadiums during the upcoming season, which will be well received after the financial impact of playing behind closed doors or in front of limited crowds in 2020. ❤️ #WeRunAsOne /cpJnBTUuXH- NFL September 9, 2021 Teams will also forfeit games if an outbreak among its unvaccinated players causes the cancellation of a fixture.Ī message from Commissioner Goodell ahead of the 2021 season. If an unvaccinated player refuses to wear a mask, breaks social distancing rules, or attends a large gathering of over 15 people without masks, the league will sanction fines starting at US$14,650. Still, though, one pressing concern for the NFL over the offseason has been the vaccination of players, coaches and staff before the new campaign begins. The league has rolled out updated Covid-19 protocols that offer clear incentives for players to get vaccinated, while the NFL’s general counsel Lawrence Ferazani has said that the organisation would welcome a vaccine mandate for its athletes. In any case, those individuals who have received their jabs will be able to enjoy several liberties this season, but the league has introduced stringent testing and containment measures for others who refuse to take the vaccine.įailure to comply to the new rules could have damaging consequences on NFL teams this season. The New England Patriots selected quarterback Mac Jones 15th overall in this year’s NFL draft in Cleveland At the 2021 NFL Draft in Cleveland back in April, for example, first-round picks were once again able to attend the ceremony and greet league commissioner Roger Goodell on stage, with 160,000 fans attending over the three days. The Titans and the Ravens were among several teams to be handed Covid-related fines by the NFL, alongside the New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders and New Orleans Saints.įollowing the unprecedented events of 2020, there has at last been a sense of things returning to normal for the NFL throughout the offseason. In week 12, the highly anticipated divisional game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers was delayed three times due to an even bigger outbreak, which placed 23 players on the reserve/Covid-19 list, including star quarterback Lamar Jackson. There were a number of outbreaks within teams, the first of those being the Tennessee Titans, whose week four game against the Pittsburgh Steelers was postponed. However, the season was not without its hiccups. And yet, remarkably, despite rising coronavirus cases across the US at the peak of the second wave, only five of 256 regular season games were postponed, with ten rescheduled to accommodate the changes. After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl LV, the sight of Tom Brady hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy for a seventh time was a familiar ending to a season which had been anything but.īefore the 2020 NFL season even started, 67 players chose to opt out of playing due to health concerns as the US continued to grapple with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The absence of a preseason, coupled with a delayed training camp, cast further doubt on the already uncertain prospect of the 2020 season going ahead as normal.
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