The National Football League’s television contract with NBC, Fox and ESPN from 2014 to 2022 earns the league six billion U.S. dollars per year, making it the largest sports league television contract in the world. Numerous soccer competitions also rank towards the top of the list, with the FIFA World Cup, English Premier League and German Bundesliga all bringing in over a billion U.S. dollars per year.
Television’s role in sport
Television broadcasting is a crucial aspect of the global sports industry, especially at the professional level. Sports leagues such as the NFL and English Premier League sell the rights to broadcast their games to media companies who then provide access to fans and casual viewers around the world. In the United States, NFL football games accounted for four of the top five most watched shows of 2018, leading to fierce competition among broadcasting companies hoping for their slice of some of the most valuable advertising time in the world. In 2018, both Anheuser-Busch and Fiat Chrysler spent tens of millions of U.S. dollars on advertising space during the Super Bowl alone. These large sums of money generated by leagues through selling broadcast rights are often at least partially distributed among the participating teams, ensuring all parties involved benefit from the massive popularity of professional sports around the world.
Largest sports league TV contracts worldwide as of September 2016
(in billion U.S. dollars per year)
Characteristic
Amount in billion U.S. dollars per year
National Football League (NBC, Fox, ESPN) (2014-2022)
6
FIFA World Cup (Fox, NBC, SBS, Bell) (2018-2022)
4.8
English Premier League (BT Sports, Sky Sports) (2016-2019)
2.6
National Basketball Association (TNT, ESPN) (2016-2024)
2.6
Major League Basketball (TBS, ESPN, Fox) (2014-2021)
1.6
Rio Summer Olympics (NBC) (2016-2020)
1.33
Bundesliga (Sky, Eurosport) (2017-2021)
1.3
UEFA European Cup (Lagardès, CAA, etc.) (2016)
1.1
La Liga (Vodafone, Mediapro, Telefónica) (2016-2019)
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Sportscaster. (September 23, 2016). Largest sports league TV contracts worldwide as of September 2016 (in billion U.S. dollars per year) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved August 25, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/316617/largest-tv-sports-league-contracts-usa/
Sportscaster. "Largest sports league TV contracts worldwide as of September 2016 (in billion U.S. dollars per year)." Chart. September 23, 2016. Statista. Accessed August 25, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/316617/largest-tv-sports-league-contracts-usa/
Sportscaster. (2016). Largest sports league TV contracts worldwide as of September 2016 (in billion U.S. dollars per year). Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: August 25, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/316617/largest-tv-sports-league-contracts-usa/
Sportscaster. "Largest Sports League Tv Contracts Worldwide as of September 2016 (in Billion U.S. Dollars per Year)." Statista, Statista Inc., 23 Sep 2016, https://www.statista.com/statistics/316617/largest-tv-sports-league-contracts-usa/
Sportscaster, Largest sports league TV contracts worldwide as of September 2016 (in billion U.S. dollars per year) Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/316617/largest-tv-sports-league-contracts-usa/ (last visited August 25, 2024)
Largest sports league TV contracts worldwide as of September 2016 (in billion U.S. dollars per year) [Graph], Sportscaster, September 23, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/316617/largest-tv-sports-league-contracts-usa/