The National Football League is hard to beat when it comes to raw brand power. This past week has shown more signs of strength for the NFL.
More Signs of Strength for the NFL
The first such positive headline is a partnership with Cirque de Soleil. The two entities will build a theater in Manhattan in 2017. Cirque’s exhibits and NFL Films content will be combined.
Cirque will pay a licensing fee to the NFL, in turn keeping part of the profits of NFL merchandise sold at the exhibition. The theater is expected to be up and running by Nov. 2017.
Another good sign involves one of the teams in the New York City market. The New York Jets have became the first NFL team to snag Porsche as a sponsor.
Racing to the Green Room
Porsche has dealt for more than the title of official sports car of the Jets, however. Porsche is also the presenting sponsor of the Jets’ Green Room. The Green Room is the premium seating space for Jets fans, and fits Porsche’s target audience perfectly. While the value of the sponsorship has not been released, a sponsorship for premium seating demands a premium price.
Concrete figures on NFL revenue have came from another source, however. The financial documents of the Green Bay Packers give us details. The numbers for the team, and the league as a whole, are outstanding.
Lots of green for Green and Gold
The Packers reported record-breaking revenue for the second straight year. 2015’s $408.7 million in revenue was an eight percent uptick from 2014. It also represented the 12th consecutive year that the revenue has grown in Green Bay.
Good news for the the Packers goes beyond Green Bay. The report shows a national revenue for the Packers of $226 million. Much of that is from television, which every NFL franchise gets an equal share of.
The Packers’ $408.7 million is ranked ninth in the NFL, meaning that 1/4 of the league had more revenue last year than Green Bay’s franchise record amount. The gap is close too, as a difference of one percent would have dropped the Packers four spots on that list, according to President Mark Murphy.
The record revenues are good news for more than just the NFL and its member franchises, however. Its partners are enjoying the success as well.
Twitter cashing in
Twitter, which has a deal to stream 10 NFL games live next season, is selling its advertising packages for the games. Reports state that Twitter’s asking price for pre-game and in-game commercials ranges from $2 million to $8 million. Beyond the immediate windfall for Twitter, selling these ads at those rates could mean a boost in television advertising revenue during NFL games as well.
The NFL has always been, is now, and will always be a business first and foremost. Therefore, its chief aim is to be sustainably profitable. Considering these facts, there is no doubt about their success.
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