This season, the NFL earned nearly $2 billion in sponsorships through the use of technology, gambling, and alcohol.

• The NFL attracted a record $1.8 billion in sponsorship revenue during the 2021 season, a 12% increase from the previous year, thanks to agreements from technology companies and betting firms.
• Although team sponsorship revenue only increased by 4%, the NFL has granted teams the permission to sell intellectual property rights abroad.
• The NFL has not yet entered into any crypto sponsorships.

Professional sports have never seen partnership fees as high as the National Football League is currently experiencing, with revenues nearing $2 billion.

The NFL's record $1.8 billion in sponsorship revenue in the 2021 season was a 12% increase from the $1.62 billion it made in the 2020 season, according to IEG. This was a 12% increase from the $1.47 billion it made in the 2019 season.

In 2021, sports gambling companies, casinos, and lotteries experienced a significant increase in NFL sponsorship agreements. DraftKings, FanDuel, and Caesars became sportsbook partners, signing five-year pacts worth nearly $1 billion combined. Additionally, the NFL secured secondary deals with BetMGM, WynnBET, Fox Bet, and PointsBet.

NFL partnership deals typically last between three and seven years and cost at least $10 million annually for smaller companies, while larger firms may pay over $200 million per year.

The NFL has a significant deal with Verizon, which pays the league over $300 million annually. In September, Verizon agreed to a new 10-year deal with the NFL, including 5G rights. However, the new deal does not include live streams of games, making it less valuable. As a result, the NFL's mobile rights are also up for grabs.

Since the NFL's most memorable playoff weekend, which featured the overtime game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills, IEG has released its estimates. This game attracted over 42 million viewers, the highest divisional postseason game since 2017.

Peter Laatz, IEG's global managing director, stated that the source of the issue is not conventional areas but rather emerging categories. In addition to discovering new talent on the field, they are also observing the emergence of new categories.

While gambling sponsorships experienced the most growth in the NFL's 2021 season, tech deals led in absolute dollar figures, with Microsoft's Surface tablet on-the-field deal with the league being worth approximately $100 million annually, according to IEG data.

Gambling deals ranked second, and alcoholic beverage deals ranked third.

In December, the NFL renewed its agreement with Anheuser-Busch, which provides the NFL with more than $250 million annually for beer and hard seltzer rights. However, Anheuser-Busch lost control of hard alcohol rights, which Diageo now holds for a reported $30 million per year.

The NFL has put its wine and champagne rights up for auction but has not yet formed a partnership in that category.

Laatz stated that the NFL's sponsorship money is like a "runway revenue train" and predicted that the league will face a "finer cutting of categories" in the future to increase deals in the U.S.

NFL targets global revenue next

Despite a substantial increase in the NFL's total sponsorship revenue, the majority of that growth came from league-wide sponsorships, which saw a 23% rise. NFL clubs, on the other hand, only experienced a 4% increase in rights fees revenue year-over-year.

The NFL is following the National Basketball Association's strategy and allowing teams to exploit international markets to increase revenue streams. Recently, the league approved 18 teams to promote their intellectual property in 26 territories, including Canada, Germany, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.

It may take some time for teams to see progress in that area.

While the NFL is dominant in the US, American football doesn't have the same appeal overseas as the NBA. Furthermore, Canada and Australia have established football leagues, posing a serious challenge to the NFL's dominance.

Laatz expressed his doubts about the NFL's international expansion plan, known as "International Home Marketing Areas," which involves growing the league's presence in London and Germany.

The NBA has more international recognition than the NFL, despite the occasional overseas games.

Laatz stated that while the NFL has played games internationally, having a significant presence in these regions to expand the sport's popularity is a distinct challenge.

The Golden State Warriors, a highly popular NBA team in the United States, recently signed a multiyear global rights sponsorship deal with crypto platform FTX for approximately $10 million in total.

Laatz believes NFL teams’ deals could be even more lucrative.

Still waiting on crypto deals

The NFL is adopting a cautious stance on agreements related to cryptocurrencies.

Officials at the NFL's owner meetings in New York revealed that crypto-related deals are still being scrutinized. Laatz referred to this approach as the "sideline model," meaning the NFL is observing how other institutions handle the issue.

Laatz stated that they are cautious about entering into speculative agreements that may result in backtracking.

Despite the NFL's delay in crypto transactions, the NBA is receiving significant investments.

The crypto platform agreed to a $192 million deal with the NBA over four years, while the Los Angeles Lakers secured a $700 million naming rights deal with Crypto.com. Additionally, the Portland Trail Blazers made history by landing the NBA's first crypto jersey patch deal.

Major League Baseball has struck a crypto patch agreement with its umpires, while individual NFL players like Tom Brady are also making crypto deals.

Risk is the thing that the NFL is leaving on the table right now, according to But Laatz.