NFL Stock: 4 Great Ways to Invest in Sports Entertainment

The NFL is the most profitable sports league in the world, but how can you invest in sports?

NFL stock is not available to buy on any stock exchange because the NFL is a privately owned corporation. However, you can invest in the Green Bay Packers NFL team.

America’s National Football League (NFL) is the most profitable sports league in the world. The NFL was more profitable than Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Indian Premier League (cricket), Spain’s La Liga, the English Premier League, and the UEFA Champions League.

NFL Stock: Great Ways to Invest in Sports Entertainment
NFL Stock: 4 Great Ways to Invest in Sports Entertainment

The NFL generated $17 billion in revenues in 2022. In the 2019-2020 season, the English Premier League generated €6.5.6 billion ($6.09 billion) in revenues or NBA basketball with $7 billion. So it is no surprise that investors are interested in the NFL.

Note: This is an unbiased research report. The author or Liberated Stock Trader is not affiliated, paid by, or owns stock in any of the companies mentioned in this report. 

NFL Stock

There are no NFL shares on the stock market because the NFL is a privately held corporation owned by the 32 constituent teams. The football team franchise owners are the NFL’s shareholders.

NFL Stock Price

There is no NFL stock price because the NFL is a privately owned corporation that has never been floated on a stock exchange. The last time any NFL stock was available to buy was the Green Bay Packers franchise, whose stock sold for $300 in November 2021.

NFL Stock Symbol

There is no stock ticker or symbol for the NFL, as the company is not publicly listed on any stock exchange in the USA or internationally.

Investors often mistake an Indian company called National Fertilizers Limited because it uses the stock symbol NFL. This company trades on the Indian national stock exchange with ticker NSE: NFL.

The National Football League has no stock symbol because it issues no stock.

Does the NFL have stock?

There is no NFL corporation stock, but it is possible to buy stock in the NFL’s Greenbay Packers because it is a publicly held nonprofit organization. The last Greenbay Packers stock sale was in 2021.


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Who owns NFL stock?

NFL stock is owned by its member teams. The 32 teams in the NFL are essentially the stockholders of the NFL corporation in a cooperative ownership structure.

The National Football League comprises 32 teams that play American football. Individuals and partnerships own 31 of the NFL teams. A nonprofit corporation owns the 32nd team, the legendary Green Bay Packers.

The NFL began in 1922 as the American Professional Football Association. They formed the modern NFL in 1966 when the National Football League merged with its rival, the American Football League (AFL).

After the merger, the AFL teams formed the American Football Conference (AFC), and the NFL teams comprised the National Football Conference (NFC). The conferences operate as separate leagues with their own playoffs.

Each year, the NFC playoff winner plays the AFC champion for the Lombardi Trophy in the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is the most-watched television program in the United States. Road Trips listed the Super Bowl as the ninth most-watched sports event on Earth.

How does the NFL make money?

The NFL makes money by selling television broadcast rights, streaming videos, merchandising deals, and licensing. Its teams generate additional revenues from ticket sales, stadium concessions, stadium merchandise sales, corporate sponsorship, luxury box sales, and charging for parking at stadiums. Parking is valuable because most NFL stadiums lack mass transit access.

The most valuable NFL franchise, the Dallas Cowboys, was worth $7.64 billion in 2022. The least valuable NFL team, the Cincinnati Bengals, was worth $2.84 billion in 2022, according to Sportico.

The NFL requires teams to share revenue with the league. For example, they require teams to share 40% of gross ticket revenues with the NFL.

The league collects all the revenue from TV deals, merchandising and commercial ventures run by the NFL, licensing deals with official NFL sponsors, and NFL-run businesses. NFL-run businesses include the NFL Network, NFL.Com, and NFL Sunday Ticket.

The NFL Network streams video of games and related programming. NFL Sunday Ticket is a package of football games they show on YouTube.

They consider revenue the league generates national revenue. They split national revenue among the 32 NFL teams.

Thus, the NFL is a privately held cooperative of teams built to control the revenues from the games and the brand. Investors are interested in the NFL because of the revenues it generates.

The numbers behind the NFL

The value proposition at the NFL is the league’s ability to attract high TV ratings as television viewership collapses.

Sunday Night Football on NBC, the NFL’s most popular show, attracted an average of 19.9 million viewers in 2022. Monday Night Football on ESPN and ABC attracted 13.79 million viewers in 2022.

Nielsen reports that the NFL’s Thursday Night Football on Amazon’s Prime Video attracted an average of 9.58 million viewers in 2022. Amazon (AMZN) claims Thursday Night Football had 11.3 million viewers in 2022.

America’s most popular broadcast TV network, NBC, averaged 5.148 million viewers in 2022. The most successful Cable TV network, the Fox News Channel, averaged 2.369 million viewers in 2022.

These ratings allow the NFL to make enormous amounts of money from television networks and streaming services. In 2022, the NFL signed new TV deals worth $120 billion with six companies.

The deals give the companies the right to broadcast or stream specific NFL games between 2023 and 2032. All the nine-year TV deals combined are worth $12 billion a year.

The NFL’s biggest TV customer is Disney (DIS) which will pay $2.7 billion a year to put NFL games on ESPN and the ESPN+ streaming service. Fox Corp (FOX) will pay the NFL $2 billion annually to put games on the Fox Broadcast Network.

Paramount Global (PARA) will pay $2.1 billion annually to put NFL games on the CBS broadcast network and the Paramount+ streaming service. Comcast (CMCSA) will pay $2 billion to show NFL games on the NBC broadcast network and the Peacock streaming service. Amazon (AMZN) will pay $1.2 billion to put Thursday Night Football on its Prime streaming service. Alphabet (GOOG) will $2 billion a year to put NFL Sunday Ticket Games on YouTube in a separate deal.

The NFL generates enormous revenues from television, though its ratings are declining. Nielsen reports NFL regular season ratings fell by 3% between the 2021 and 2022 regular seasons. NFL games averaged 17.1 million viewers in 2022, the Associated Press reports.

The NFL’s greatest value proposition is companies’ willingness to pay tens of billions of dollars for TV rights. The TV rights money exceeds the NFL’s other revenues. NFL teams made $2.7 billion from sponsorship deals in the 2021-2022 season, Sportspromedia reports.

NFL revenue figures are hard to break down because the league is a private organization. All NFL teams made $17.19 billion in total revenues in 2021. The NFL’s total revenues rose from $12.2 billion in 2020 and $15.26 billion in 2019.

3 Great Alternatives to Investing in NFL Stock

Several stocks are excellent alternatives to the National Football League. Those stocks include television and sports companies such as Disney, World Wrestling Entertainment, and Paramount Global.

1. Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA)

Paramount Global (PARA) is an NFL alternative because it televises NFL games on the CBS broadcast network and the Paramount+ streaming service.

The value proposition at Paramount is two fast-growing streaming services, Paramount+ and Pluto TV. Paramount+ had 66.5 million subscribers worldwide in the third quarter of 2022. Paramount+’s subscriber base grew from 46.7 million in the third quarter of 2021 and 17.9 million in the third quarter of 2020.

Paramount Global (PARA) 5-Year Stock Chart Performance
Paramount Global (PARA) 5-Year Stock Chart Performance

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Paramount+ shows premium content, including Star Trek shows, movies such as Top Gun Maverick, and prestige dramas such as Yellowstone and Tulsa King. Other Paramount+ attractions include UEFA Champions League football from Europe and the NFL.

Paramount Global owns the largest Free Ad Supported Television (FAST) streaming service, Pluto TV. A FAST is a streaming service that does not require subscriptions. The FAST makes its programming free but advertises in the shows. FASTs are popular because they give viewers many programming choices for free.

Pluto TV had 72 million monthly active users worldwide in the third quarter of 2022. Pluto’s monthly active users grew from 54 million in the third quarter of 2021 to 36 million in the third quarter of 2020.

The streaming services give Paramount Global value because they can reach 138.5 million viewers worldwide. This can allow Paramount Global to generate revenue from subscriptions and advertising sales.

Paramount Global generated $30.023 billion in annual revenues in 2022. The annual revenues in $28.586 billion in 2021 and $25.285 billion in 2020.

Paramount Global is an NFL alternative because it profits from sports television. Football fans cannot buy NFL stock, but there are excellent investing alternatives in the stock market.

2. Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA)

Comcast Corporation is a large media conglomerate and one of the world’s largest entertainment companies. Comcast’s ownership of NBCUniversal and its broadcast rights to the National Football League has been instrumental in shaping its success.

Comcast (CMCSA) 5-Year Stock Chart Featuring the Liberated Stock Trader MOSES Signals
Comcast (CMCSA) 5-Year Stock Chart Featuring the Liberated Stock Trader MOSES Signals

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Comcast has wholly owned NBCUniversal since 2013. This acquisition from General Electric gave Comcast a 100% stake in NBC, including its many TV networks such as NBC, USA Network, and Bravo. In addition to these popular networks, Comcast also acquired Universal Pictures film studio and the Universal theme parks.

The company’s ownership of NBCUniversal has enabled it to become a major force in broadcasting NFL football games. Through this ownership, Comcast has the right to televise NFL Football.

Revenue from these NFL broadcast rights has been a significant factor in Comcast’s overall success. Comcast derived $17.5 billion in revenue from its broadcasting activities, with over $2 billion from its NFL broadcasts. Additionally, their agreements with other NFL broadcasters have allowed them to take part in higher ratings which can lead to more revenue opportunities through advertising fees and other sources.

It’s clear that Comcast’s ownership of NBCUniversal and its access to NFL football broadcasting rights have been key drivers of its success over the years. This lucrative combination has allowed customers access to high-profile events such as Sunday Night Football while also providing a consistent revenue stream for the company itself. With continued expansion into new markets through acquisitions such as Sky plc, Comcast appears poised to keep up this solid performance in the future as well.

3. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS)

Disney is best known for its movies and theme parks, but it is also one of America’s largest television companies.

Disney owns three streaming services, Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. Disney+ is one of the fastest-growing streaming services because it is the exclusive home of many Marvel and Star Wars shows and movies.

The Walt Disney Company: 5 Year Stock Chart - Featuring Liberated Stock Traders MOSES Indicator
The Walt Disney Company: 5-Year Stock Chart – Featuring Liberated Stock Traders MOSES Indicator

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Disney+ had 164.2 million subscribers worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2022, Statista reports. The number of Disney+ subscribers grew from 116 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 and 73.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Hulu had 47.2 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2022, Statista calculates. The number of Hulu subscribers grew from 42.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 and 36.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.

ESPN Plus had 24.3 million subscribers in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2022. The number of ESPN subscribers grew from 17.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 and 10.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Disney also owns the ABC broadcast television network in the United States and several cable networks. The Disney cable TV networks include Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, ESPN, FX, Freeform, and National Geographic.

Disney is an NFL alternative because it shows NFL and college football games on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN+. A $27.2 billion TV deal signed in 2022 makes Disney the largest broadcaster of NFL programming.

The Walt Disney Company has many sources of income, including theme parks, movies, merchandising, and television. That income allowed Disney to generate $82.722 billion in annual revenues in 2021. Disney’s revenues grew from $67.418 billion in 2021 and $65.388 billion in 20220.

Disney is an NFL alternative because it can generate enormous revenue from television, sports, and entertainment.

4. World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE)

The WWE (WWE) is the world’s largest and best-known professional wrestling promotion.

WWE is an NFL alternative because it is a sports entertainment organization that profits from television deals for its high-rated programs. In 2018, Comcast (CMSA) subsidiary NBC Universal signed a $265 million deal to show WWE’s Raw program on its USA TV network.

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (WWE) 5-Year Stock Chart Performance - Featuring Liberated Stock Traders MOSES Indicator
World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (WWE) 5-Year Stock Chart Performance – Featuring Liberated Stock Traders MOSES Indicator

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Comcast pays so much for Raw because of its ratings. On January 4, 2023, Raw attracted 1.6 million viewers. Writers often compare Raw’s ratings to sports events, including NFL games.

Another WWE program WWE Friday Night Smackdown!, received 2.326 million viewers on the Fox Broadcast Network on January 16, 2022. Rating services regularly list Smackdown as the number one show in the coveted 18 to 49 age demographic. Broadcasters want the 18-to-49 demographic because advertisers will pay extra for shows with higher 18-to-49 ratings.

WWE has an advantage over the NFL because it runs shows all year round. Raw and Smackdown each run for 52 weeks a year. The NFL only stages games in the Fall and the Winter. Networks pay WWE for programming because it can show sports entertainment year-round.

Negotiations for new WWE TV deals will begin in 2023. Observers expect the new TV contracts to be the largest ever. This could increase the WWE’s already growing revenues. WWE’s annual revenues grew from $1.09 billion in 2021 to $1.27 billion in 2022.

WWE is a dividend stock. WWE has scheduled eight 12₵ quarterly dividends between January 27, 2023, and October 25, 2024.

Former WWE CEO, and current chairperson, Vincent K. McMahon Jr, owns all the Class B shares, Sportico reports. This gives McMahon control of the company and the ability to sell it. They forced McMahon out of the company over a sex scandal in 2022, but he still controls the class B shares.

 

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