Average operating income of NFL teams 2002-2023

The average operating income of an National Football League (NFL) franchise was 142.47 million U.S. dollars in 2023. With an operating income of 564 million U.S. dollars, the Dallas Cowboys topped the list of NFL teams with the highest operating incomes during the 2023 season.

Are NFL franchises set to get even more valuable?

The NFL has reached new heights in terms of average operating income, but figures are forecast to increase further over the next few years. In 2022, Amazon secured exclusive rights to show Thursday Night Football on its streaming services, with an estimated contract valuation of 1.2 billion U.S. dollars. The competitiveness of the sports broadcasting market has increased significantly due to the arrival of modern streaming services. According to figures from 2022, average television viewership of the NFL regular season was at approximately 16.7 million

Show me the money!

Operating income refers to how much of a team’s revenue will become profit after deducting operating expenses, such as wages. Across all the major sporting leagues worldwide, the NFL has historically topped the rankings for total wage spend. Within the league, the NFL team with the highest player expenses during the 2022/23 season was the Los Angeles Rams with a payroll of approximately 330 million U.S. dollars.