National Football League

Who owns the NFL?
The NFL is owned collectively by its 32 member team owners through a trade association structure. Each team is independently owned by individuals, families, or ownership groups, and these teams collectively own the NFL. Roger Goodell serves as Commissioner, appointed by the team owners. The Green Bay Packers are the only publicly owned NFL team, with thousands of shareholders through a non-profit structure, but Packers shares do not trade on any stock exchange.

Is the NFL publicly traded?
No, the NFL is not publicly traded as a league. Individual NFL teams are privately owned, with the exception of the Green Bay Packers, which are owned by thousands of shareholders through a non-profit structure. Packers shares cannot be resold except back to the team and do not trade on any stock exchange.

What is the NFL's annual revenue?
The NFL reported approximately $23 billion in total revenue for the fiscal year ending March 2025, an 8% increase from the prior year. National revenue shared with all 32 teams totaled approximately $14.5 billion ($450 million per team), while local revenue approached $8.3 billion. Commissioner Goodell set a target of $25 billion in revenue by 2027, which the league is expected to meet.

When was the NFL founded?
The NFL was founded on August 20, 1920, as the American Professional Football Association in Canton, Ohio. The league was renamed the National Football League in 1922. Jim Thorpe, the legendary athlete, was named the first president.

What is the Super Bowl?
The Super Bowl is the NFL's annual championship game, played in February. Super Bowl LIX in February 2025, in which the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22, drew a record 127.7 million viewers across Fox, Tubi, Telemundo, and streaming platforms, making it the most-watched U.S. television broadcast in history.

Who is the NFL Commissioner?
Roger Goodell has served as NFL Commissioner since 2006, succeeding Paul Tagliabue. Goodell's current contract runs through March 2027, with owners discussing a potential extension to approximately 2030. His total career earnings as Commissioner are approaching $700 million.

How much are NFL media rights deals worth?
The NFL's 11-year media rights deals, signed in 2021 with ESPN, Fox, CBS, NBC, Amazon, and YouTube, are worth approximately $125 billion total and run through the 2033 season. The deals include opt-out provisions after the 2029 season. NFL Sunday Ticket moved to YouTube TV in 2023 in a separate deal worth approximately $2 billion annually.

The NFL was founded on August 20, 1920, as the American Professional Football Association (APFA) in Canton, Ohio. Representatives from several professional football teams, including the Canton Bulldogs, Akron Pros, Cleveland Indians, and others, met at the Hupmobile automobile showroom to organize professional football. Jim Thorpe, the legendary athlete, was named the first president. The league was renamed the National Football League in 1922.

The early NFL struggled for stability and recognition, competing with college football, which was far more popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Teams frequently folded, relocated, or joined and left the league. The NFL gradually consolidated into a more stable organization through the 1930s and 1940s.

Television transformed the NFL in the 1950s and 1960s. Commissioner Bert Bell negotiated the league's first national television contract in 1951, and the 1958 NFL Championship Game between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants, won by the Colts in overtime, is often called "the greatest game ever played" and is credited with establishing football as a major television sport.

The most significant structural change came with the AFL-NFL merger. The American Football League (AFL), founded in 1960, competed directly with the NFL for players and fans. The two leagues agreed to merge in 1966, with the merger completed in 1970. The merger created the Super Bowl (first played in January 1967), the modern conference structure (AFC and NFC), and a unified draft. Pete Rozelle, who served as Commissioner from 1960 to 1989, was the architect of the modern NFL, negotiating landmark television contracts and building the league into America's most popular sport.

Paul Tagliabue served as Commissioner from 1989 to 2006, overseeing the NFL's continued growth and the introduction of free agency following the 1993 collective bargaining agreement. Roger Goodell became Commissioner in 2006 and has overseen the NFL's expansion from approximately $6 billion in annual revenue to approximately $23 billion.

The NFL's media rights deals have been the primary driver of revenue growth. In 2021, the NFL signed a package of media rights deals worth approximately $125 billion over 11 years (2023-2033), with CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN/ABC, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTube. Amazon's deal, which gives it exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football, marked the first time a major professional sports league sold exclusive national broadcast rights to a streaming service. YouTube acquired NFL Sunday Ticket from DirecTV in 2023 in a deal worth approximately $2 billion annually.

Super Bowl LVIII in February 2024, played in Las Vegas and broadcast on CBS, drew approximately 123.7 million viewers. Super Bowl LIX in February 2025, played in New Orleans and broadcast on Fox, drew a record 127.7 million viewers, a 3.2% increase from the prior year. The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22. The audience peaked at 137.7 million in the second quarter. Despite the blowout score, the game set viewership records due in part to Nielsen's expanded out-of-home measurement, which now covers 100% of the U.S. contiguous television population.

The 2024 regular season averaged 17.5 million viewers per game, the sixth-highest average dating to 1995, though a 2% decline from 2023. The NFL playoffs averaged 35.2 million viewers across the first three weekends.

The NFL has faced significant controversies related to player health and safety, particularly regarding chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma. The NFL settled a class-action lawsuit with former players for approximately $1 billion in 2015. The league has implemented rule changes and equipment standards aimed at reducing head injuries, but concussions remain an inherent risk of the sport. The league reported 219 concussions in the 2024 season, the highest number recorded since it began tracking the data.

The league faced controversy when players including Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 to protest racial injustice and police brutality. The protests divided public opinion and created tension between the league, its players, and some fans and sponsors. Kaepernick has not played in the NFL since the 2016 season and filed a collusion grievance against the league, which was settled in 2019 for an undisclosed amount.

The Washington Commanders (formerly the Washington Redskins) changed their name in 2020 following pressure from sponsors and the public over the use of a name considered offensive to Native Americans. The team was rebranded as the Washington Commanders in 2022.

The NFL has also faced scrutiny related to its handling of domestic violence cases involving players. The league's personal conduct policy, enforced by the Commissioner, has been criticized for inconsistent application. The Ray Rice domestic violence incident in 2014 prompted the NFL to strengthen its personal conduct policy, but subsequent cases have continued to generate controversy.

The league has faced legal challenges to its media rights strategy. In 2023, YouTube TV acquired NFL Sunday Ticket, moving the out-of-market package from DirecTV. The transition generated complaints from consumers about pricing and technical issues, though the package has since stabilized.