What are the revenues and expenses for an average NFL team and how profitable are they? Green Bay Packers case study

Dear Reader:

This week’s three postings are about what the annual revenue and expenses of NFL, MLB and NHL teams look like. This is a little bit of a departure for me and no doubt a bit of an odd posting in a Sports Licensing blog, but I came to it because I wanted people interested in sports licensing to understand just how small a role the sale of licensed sports merchandise plays in a team’s budget. The point being, the royalties generated by the sale of licensed sports merchandise play a very small role in an NFL, MLB or even an NHL team’s budget.

I have also been genuinely curious as to what NFL, MLB and NHL team budgets might look like, so I thought I’d have a go at it. When I say “budget”, I’m talking about a somewhat realistic big picture estimate of a team’s annual revenues and corresponding annual expenses.

This posting showcases the Green Bay Packers of the NFL. This week’s other two postings show MLB’s Philadelphia Phillies and the NHL’s Ottawa Senators.

Let me also say that I am well aware that within each league the revenue generation and corresponding profitability of teams can vary greatly – in the NFL the Cowboys are reported to have annual revenues in excess of $900million while the loveable Cincinnati Bengals likely generate something closer to $380million per year – that’s a huge difference for two teams in the same league and thus they would have dramatically different profitabilities. But this revenue and expense exercise that I have done isn’t about comparing teams within each league, rather I have chosen a “middle team” in each league (Green Bay Packers in the NFL, Philadelphia Phillies in MLB, and the Ottawa Senators in the NHL) and thought it would be interesting to compare “middle” teams across each of the three leagues.

Almost all NFL, MLB and NHL teams are privately owned and therefore their statement of revenue and expenses are also private. The Green Bay Packers are an exception because they are publicly owned, and thus they are a source of info for people interested in this subject. And once in a while you hear of a pro team having to reveal certain financial information in court for one reason or another. But for the most part, to the average fan it’s a bit of a mystery.

As you can imagine, there are a number of challenges and decisions to be made in undertaking a budget creation exercise like this. One such challenge is that you can be sure every team handles revenue and expenses differently, yet here I am creating a template model to fit every team. For instance, the building of a new stadium/ballpark/arena – how much of that gets charged to the team on an annual basis? Or what if the team’s stadium is 25 years old – has the existing stadium been fully paid for and at the same time, shouldn’t money be set aside each season for a new building fund? Another example is non-player salaries – does a team owner pay him/herself $100k or $20 million, and do they have umpteen family members taking up space on the payroll? In my spreadsheets you will see how I’ve handled these and numerous other expense items – not perfectly by any means, but I’ve tried to take them into account. If you disagree with some of my decisions, feel free to change the numbers as you see fit. This is meant to be a fun exercise, not the cure for cancer.

Here are the highlights of the Green Bay Packers 2020 (non-Covid) annual budget guesstimate as prepared by Scott Sillcox (then immediately below I have attached two pages of budget details):

Revenue:
- National revenue $313 million
- Local revenue $197 million
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Total Revenue: $506 million
Expenses:
- Player salaries $226 million
- Other salaries $52 million
- All other expenses $170 million
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Total Expenses: $448 million
Gross Profit: $58 million

I have no ulterior motive for creating and posting these budgets. I’m a sports fan and I’m genuinely curious as to what a team’s annual operating budget might look like. And part of that is I’m curious how team budgets differ from the NFL to MLB to the NHL.

I welcome meaningful, constructive feedback, especially if you think I’ve gotten some numbers terribly wrong or have forgotten a major source of revenue or area of expense. So, have a look and let the dialogue begin.

Thanks

Scott

PS You might well ask - who is Scott Sillcox and how is he qualified to take a stab at NFL, MLB and NHL team budgets? Who I am is fairly simple - I was a licensee of the NFL, MLB, NHL and US colleges and after I sold my business some years ago, I became a consultant to people wanting to enter the licensed sports product marketplace. I also really like sports, spreadsheets and big picture viewpoints on subjects. So I thought I’d give it a whirl. If you are interested in a budget for a particular team, I’d be happy to put on my consultant’s hat and for a two hour fee ($350US), I would be happy to prepare a reasonable Sillcoxian guess at that team’s budget. Email me here or call/text me at 416-315-4736.

PPS And if you are a huge fan of an NFL, MLB or NHL team and are looking for a great gift idea in the $35 range, consider buying a ready-to-hang 8" x 24" plaqued poster of your team's uniform evolution at Heritage Sports Stuff. Every fan should have one of these babies hanging somewhere in their home.

PPPS In case you were wondering about the values of the 32 NFL franchises, which is related to the profitability but not in a straight line way, here is Forbes' list for 2022. In essence this is what Forbes feels each NFL franchise could sell for in 2022.