Given the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, we all knew the NFL was going to lose a chunk of revenue during the 2020 season.
Now, thanks to Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal, we have a reported figure to gauge how much the league lost. According to Fischer, the shortfall is about $4 billion.
That’s a 25 percent downgrade from 2019, when the league bagged $16 billion in revenue.
“2020 had been projected to be a $16.5 billion season, but came in at around $12 billion, the source confirmed (all this subject to a union audit),” Fischer wrote.
Total 2020 pandemic revenue shortfall for the NFL: about $4B.
I break it down in this week’s #SBJFootball newsletter. https://t.co/sSArRTojoA
— Ben Fischer (@BenFischerSBJ) March 11, 2021
Of course, these losses are a natural result of no preseason games and limited or no fan attendance around the league.
Some of that pain can be felt in the salary cap, which dropped from $198.2 million in 2020 to $182.5 million in 2021.
Fortunately for the NFL, while it can’t recoup its losses from this past season, we expect the league to have a huge jump in revenue this coming year.