NFL Stock: 3 Great Ways to Invest in Sports

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

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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 is 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

Note:ย 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.ย 

The NFL generates $17 billion in revenues. The English Premier League Soccer generates $6 billion in revenue, and NBA basketball makes $7 billion. So, it is no surprise that investors are interested in the NFL.

The NFL is incredibly popular in the USA and internationally; the 2024 Superbowl was the most-watched final ever, with over 200 million people tuning in.

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 $300ย in November 2021.


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NFL Stock Symbol

The NFL has no stock ticker or symbol, 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 Green Bay Packers because it is a publicly held nonprofit organization. The last Green Bay Packers stock sale was in 2021.

Who owns NFL stock?

NFL stock is owned by its member teams. The 32 NFL teams are essentially the NFL corporation’s stockholders 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, and a nonprofit corporation owns the 32nd team, the legendary Green Bay Packers.

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

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 most-watched television program in the United States. Road Trips listed the Super Bowl as Earth’s ninth most-watched sports event.

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 like Disney, World Wrestling Entertainment, and Paramount Global.

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

Paramount Global owns Pluto TV, the largest free ad-supported television (FAST) streaming service. A FAST does not require subscriptions. It 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 2023. The streaming services value Paramount Global because they can reach 138.5 million viewers worldwide, which allows Paramount Global to generate revenue from subscriptions and advertising sales.

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 (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 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 Universal’s theme parks.

The company’s ownership of NBC Universal 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 significantly affected 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.

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

3. The Walt Disney Company (DIS)

Disney is best known for its movies and theme parks but 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.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, Disney+ had 164.2 million subscribers worldwide, whileย Hulu had over 47.2 million subscribers in 2023.

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

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, merchandise sales, corporate sponsorship, luxury box sales, and stadium parking charges. Parking is valuable because most NFL stadiums lack mass transit access.

The most valuable NFL franchise, the Dallas Cowboys, is worth over $8 billion in 2023. The least valuable NFL team, the Cincinnati Bengals, was worth over $3 billion in 2023.

The NFL requires teams to share revenue with the league. For example, teams must 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 videos of games and related programming. NFL Sunday Ticket is a package of football games that is shown 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.


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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, attracting an average of 19.9 million viewers. Monday Night Football on ESPN and ABC attracts 14 million viewers.

Nielsen reports that the NFL’s Thursday Night Football on Amazon’s Prime Video attracted an average of 9.58 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.

These ratings allow the NFL to make enormous revenues 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. The nine-year TV deals are combined worth $12 billion a year.

The NFL’s biggest TV customer is Disney (DIS),ย which pays $2.7 billion yearly 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. According to Sportspromedia, NFL teams madeโ€‚$2.7 billion from sponsorship deals in the 2021-2022 season.

NFL revenue figures are difficult to break down because the league is a private organization. In 2023, all NFL teams made over $20 billion in total revenues.

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Barry D. Moore CFTe
Barry D. Moore CFTe
With a wealth of experience spanning 25 years in stock investing and trading, Barry D. Moore (CFTe) is an author and Certified Financial Technician (Market Analyst) recognized by the International Federation of Technical Analysts (IFTA). Notably, he has also held executive positions in leading Silicon Valley corporations IBM Corp. and Hewlett Packard Inc.

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