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NFL Financial Statistics 2026

The NFL’s financial growth continued in 2026, with average franchise values reaching $9.34 billion and the salary cap passing $300 million for the first time. The latest completed-season estimates put combined team revenue at $23.5 billion in 2025, with total NFL revenue exceeding $24 billion when money retained at the league level is included.

A new report by Doc’s Sports covers league revenue, team valuations, player compensation, historical salary-cap growth, sponsorship trends, ownership deals and stadium investment. Revenue figures generally cover the 2025 season or fiscal years ending in 2026; salary caps, minimum salaries and franchise valuations are for 2026. For analysis of the games themselves, see our Expert NFL picks.

A new report by Doc’s Sports covers league revenue, team valuations, player compensation, historical salary-cap growth, sponsorship trends, ownership deals and stadium investment. Revenue figures generally cover the 2025 season or fiscal years ending in 2026; salary caps, minimum salaries and franchise valuations are for 2026. For analysis of the games themselves, see our Expert NFL picks.

NFL Revenue and Media

  1. Total NFL revenue: More than $24 billion in 2025, including revenue retained at the league level, according to Sportico.
  2. Combined team revenue: $23.5 billion in 2025, based on Sportico’s estimates for all 32 franchises.
  3. Annual team revenue growth: 5.9%, comparing Sportico’s 2025 combined team revenue estimate with 2024.
  4. National revenue shared with teams: About $14.5 billion in 2025, from leaguewide media, sponsorship, licensing and merchandise arrangements.
  5. National revenue per team: $453.2 million, as disclosed by the Packers for their fiscal year ending in March 2026.
  6. National revenue’s share of team revenue: 62% in 2025, according to Sportico.
  7. Ticket and luxury-suite revenue: $4.35 billion in 2025, approximately 19% of combined team revenue.
  8. Team sponsorship revenue: An estimated $2.6 billion in 2025, according to Sportico.
  9. Concessions, parking, team stores and non-NFL events: $1.7 billion in 2025, approximately 7% of combined team revenue.
  10. Current TV contracts: About $12 billion annually on average, according to Sportico’s September 2026 reporting.

NFL Franchise Valuations

  1. Average franchise value: $9.34 billion in 2026, according to Sportico.
  2. Annual average valuation growth: 31%, the largest one-year increase since Sportico began its NFL valuations in 2020.
  3. Combined franchise value: $299 billion, including related businesses and real estate covered by Sportico’s methodology.
  4. Dallas Cowboys value: $15.5 billion, first in Sportico’s 2026 ranking.
  5. Los Angeles Rams value: $12.7 billion, second in Sportico’s ranking.
  6. New York Giants value: $12 billion, third in Sportico’s ranking.
  7. Dallas Cowboys value under Forbes’ methodology: $17 billion, up 31% from its 2025 estimate.
  8. Average franchise value under Forbes’ methodology: $9.5 billion, compared with $7.1 billion in 2025.
  9. Annual average valuation growth under Forbes’ methodology: 34%, its second-largest percentage increase since the publication began its NFL rankings in 1998.
  10. Teams worth more than $10 billion: 10 of 32, according to Forbes’ 2026 estimates.
  11. Lowest franchise value under Sportico’s methodology: $7.4 billion, for the Cincinnati Bengals.
  12. Lowest franchise value under Forbes’ methodology: $8 billion, also for the Bengals.

Salary Cap and Benefits

  1. 2026 salary cap: $301.2 million per team, the first NFL cap above $300 million.
  2. Annual cap increase: $22 million per team, up from $279.2 million in 2025.
  3. Annual cap growth: 7.9%, calculated from the NFL’s published 2025 and 2026 limits.
  4. Combined base salary-cap allocation: Approximately $9.64 billion across 32 teams, calculated before team-specific adjustments; this is not actual cash payroll.
  5. Player benefits: $77.6 million per team in 2026, in addition to the salary cap, according to the NFL’s announcement.
  6. Salary cap plus benefits: $378.8 million per team in 2026, according to the NFL.
  7. First NFL salary cap: $34.6 million in 1994, compared with $301.2 million in 2026.
  8. Salary-cap growth since 1994: 770.5%, calculated from the NFL’s published figures, without adjusting for inflation.
  9. Salary-cap growth since 2021: 65.0%, rising from $182.5 million to $301.2 million.
  10. Salary-cap growth since 2024: 17.9%, rising from $255.4 million to $301.2 million.

Minimum Pay and Revenue Sharing

  1. Rookie minimum base salary: $885,000 in 2026, for players with zero credited seasons.
  2. Annual rookie minimum increase: $45,000, up from $840,000 in 2025.
  3. Minimum base salary with one credited season: $1,005,000 in 2026.
  4. Minimum base salary with two credited seasons: $1,075,000 in 2026.
  5. Minimum base salary with three credited seasons: $1,145,000 in 2026.
  6. Minimum base salary with four to six credited seasons: $1,215,000 in 2026.
  7. Minimum base salary with seven or more credited seasons: $1.3 million in 2026.
  8. Players’ guaranteed revenue share: At least 48% of CBA-defined football revenue annually, with a media-related adjustment that can raise the share to 48.8%; the allocation includes benefits, not just salaries.

Packers Financial Performance

Green Bay’s fiscal 2026 reporting period ran from April 2025 through March 2026.

  1. Total revenue: $753 million in fiscal 2026, a franchise record.
  2. Annual revenue growth: 4.7%, according to the Packers’ financial results.
  3. National revenue growth: $20.6 million, or 4.8%, compared with the previous fiscal year.
  4. Local revenue: $299.8 million, from sources including ticketing, sponsorships, retail sales and events.
  5. Local revenue increase: $13.4 million, despite hosting eight regular-season home games rather than nine the previous season.
  6. Operating expenses: $754.1 million, an increase of 18.7% year over year.
  7. Operating result: A $1.1 million loss, as expenses exceeded revenue.
  8. Non-operating income: $133.6 million, including investment gains and the NFL’s transaction involving NFL Network and ESPN.
  9. Net income: $132.5 million, up 54.8% from the previous fiscal year.
  10. Corporate reserve fund: $701 million, up from the $579 million the Packers reported a year earlier; the team’s 2026 release described the year-over-year gain as $77 million, which does not reconcile with its own prior-year figure.

Team Revenue and Profits

  1. Dallas Cowboys revenue: $1.278 billion for the 2025 season, the highest revenue Forbes had recorded for a sports team when it published its September 2026 rankings.
  2. Dallas Cowboys operating income: $677 million for the 2025 season, based on Forbes’ cash-basis EBITDA estimate, net of stadium debt service.
  3. Los Angeles Rams operating income: $335 million for the 2025 season, second to Dallas in Forbes’ rankings.
  4. Dallas Cowboys luxury-suite revenue: Approximately $135 million in 2025, the highest in the NFL, according to Sportico.
  5. Local media’s share of NFL team revenue: Less than 2%, according to Sportico’s September 2026 reporting; most NFL television rights are sold centrally rather than by individual franchises.

Sponsorship Growth and Spending

  1. Annual team sponsorship revenue growth: 8% in the 2025 season, reaching $2.7 billion under SponsorUnited’s separate estimation methodology, compared with Sportico’s $2.6 billion estimate cited above.
  2. Technology sponsorship spending increase: An estimated $21 million, the largest dollar increase of any category in SponsorUnited’s review of the 2025–26 season.
  3. Financial-services sponsorship spending increase: More than $15 million in the 2025–26 season, according to SponsorUnited.
  4. Ticketing sponsorship spending increase: $14 million in the 2025–26 season, according to SponsorUnited.
  5. New sponsorship brands entering 2026–27: More than 600, with deals already booked before the season began and no NFL activity in the previous season, according to SponsorUnited’s September 2026 platform snapshot.

Ownership and Stadium Investment

  1. Seattle Seahawks sale price: $9.612 billion in 2026, a league record for an NFL franchise sale; the transaction closed on September 3.
  2. Private equity ownership limit: 10% of an NFL franchise in aggregate, whether a team sells to one approved fund or several; the cap remained in place in September 2026.
  3. Buffalo Bills’ new stadium cost: Approximately $2.2 billion, as reported by Sportico in its 2026 valuation article.
  4. Cleveland Browns’ planned stadium project: Approximately $2.6 billion, according to Sportico’s 2026 reporting; this is a project estimate, not a final completed-construction cost.
  5. Washington Commanders’ planned stadium project: Approximately $3.8 billion, according to Sportico’s 2026 reporting; the stadium was projected to open in 2030.

Sources

Data Notes

  • Reporting years: This is a 2026 update, not a claim that full-year 2026 revenue has been finalized; the cited revenue estimates cover 2025, while the latest Packers results cover fiscal 2026.
  • Revenue definitions: Sportico’s $23.5 billion figure covers combined team revenue; its figure above $24 billion also includes money retained at the league level.
  • Valuation differences: Forbes and Sportico publish separate estimates with different methodologies; Sportico includes certain related businesses and real estate, while Forbes excludes stadium real estate and related businesses with separate financial statements.
  • Compensation definitions: The salary cap is not a measure of actual annual cash payroll; player benefits are separate from the cap, and the CBA revenue calculation excludes non-football revenue such as stadium concerts.
  • Profit definitions: The Packers’ reported operating result is not directly interchangeable with Forbes’ or Sportico’s cash-based earnings estimates; depreciation, amortization and the timing of player costs can produce different results.
  • Sponsorship estimates: SponsorUnited’s $2.7 billion estimate and Sportico’s $2.6 billion estimate are separate measures and should not be combined or presented as identical; SponsorUnited models sponsorship pricing rather than reporting confirmed contract values, and counts some sub-brands separately.
  • Stadium costs: Planned project budgets are estimates that can change and should not be described as money already spent.
  • Calculations: Percentage changes use the cited starting and ending values and are rounded to one decimal place; combined base cap allocation equals $301.2 million multiplied by 32, before team-specific adjustments.

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