Players in the NFL in 2023, by ethnicity

In 2023, the greatest share of players by ethnic group in the National Football League (NFL) were black or African American athletes, constituting just over 53 percent of players within the NFL. Despite the large population of Hispanic or Latino people within the United States, there is a substantial underrepresentation within the NFL, with only 0.5 percent of players identifying as such.

National Football League

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that was established in 1920 and now consists of 32 clubs divided into two conferences, the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The league culminates in the Super Bowl, the NFL's annual championship game. As the league’s championship game, the Super Bowl has grown into one of the world's largest single-day sporting events, attracting high television ratings and generating billions of dollars in consumer spending.

NFL revenues

The NFL is one of the most profitable sports leagues in the world, generating a staggering 18.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. This total revenue of all 32 NFL teams has constantly increased over the past 15 years and, although this figure dropped significantly in 2020, this was largely as a result of the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) containment measures. This significant drop in revenue demonstrates one of the primary impacts of COVID-19 on professional sports leagues.

NFL franchises

As a result of this profitability in non-pandemic times, the franchises of the NFL are attributed extremely high market values. The Dallas Cowboys were by far the most valuable franchise in the NFL, with a market value of nine billion US dollars in 2023. The high value of NFL franchises can be seen clearly when compared to those of the NBA, MLB, and NHL. Franchises within the NFL had an average market value of approximately 5.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2023.