Football, far from being the king sport in revenue

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urely, for most people outside the U.S., the closest thing that sounds like American football is the latest multi-million dollar Pepsi, Budweiser, or Audi Super Bowl commercial, the indelible 'nipplegate' controversy when Justin Timberlake ripped off part of Janet Jackson's dress, exposing one of her nipples, or simply a shocking image of one player violently tackling another, repeated a thousand times in slow motion on some sports highlight show.

But beyond records, iconic moments, or controversies, American football and its professional football league, the National Football League (NFL), is also the biggest sports business in the world. It is a competition that only lasts five months, from September to January, and despite its evident efforts to globalize, it only interests the U.S. And even so, last year it generated a record revenue of 13.3 billion dollars, and each of its 32 franchises or teams has an average value of 2.5 billion dollars. To give an idea, that revenue figure is much higher than its pursuer in the ranking, Major League Baseball (MLB) with 9.5 billion dollars annually. And it is light years away from the main football leagues, if compared to the 4.865 billion dollars of the English Premier League or the 2.048 billion dollars of LaLiga.

From an economic point of view, the appellation of "king sport" with which our football is associated around the globe should be granted to American football, even more so when checking that among the 10 most valuable sports clubs, Forbes places four NFL franchises including the Dallas Cowboys, who lead the ranking with a value of 4.2 billion dollars. It should be noted that three football clubs, Manchester United, FC Barcelona, and Real Madrid, are among the top five with a value of around 3.6 billion dollars, but as a league, none come close to the numbers managed by the 32 owners of the 32 franchises that own and run the NFL.

Checking the value of the main European football teams, one could perhaps speculate about a large private league of clubs at a continental level that could be equated to this golden egg-laying sports hen, but the reality is that the current Champions League organized by UEFA barely generates half the income of the NFL. In fact, ESPN journalist Gabriele Marcotti speculates in an excellent article with this hypothesis and lists a large number of reasons why, with the current Champions League format, European football can never dream of matching American football's figures in a head-to-head between its two major leagues. Among them are the smaller number of matches and their shorter duration (meaning less space for television advertising), a less compact and more heterogeneous audience, and the feeling that, here, no matter what happens, the same teams always end up winning.

That is precisely one of the keys why the NFL is such an appetizing dish for all types of investments, due to its ability to generate a narrative that hooks far beyond simple sport. As the title of Oliver Stone and Al Pacino's famous movie says, Any Given Sunday, anything can happen on an American football field.

This is a list of the 10 things that make this sport and its league so unique and profitable and that our football should start to consider if it wants to compete at the same level.

1. Salary cap or Salary cap. The idea that on any given Sunday, anything can happen, is much more than a pretty phrase. The NFL is a private competition in which all its contenders have the same budget, are obliged to spend the same amount on their players' salaries, and transfers are not made with money involved, but rather the currency of exchange is other players or future selections of university athletes. Anyone can beat anyone, the vast majority of games are close and decided in the last seconds, and at the start of the season, the range of contenders for the title is enormous. In short, it is a much fairer competition, and all fans have legitimate dreams of glory.
2. Draft. Rosters are enormous, composed of 55 official players. The origin of the vast majority is the NCAAF, the university league, and each year teams divide the best prospects in seven rounds in which each franchise chooses one player per round. This is the process known as the Draft, which during the offseason months serves to keep the flame of competition alive by analyzing the potential of the guys from the best universities. Even so, the large number of players needed and their short average duration in the league (three years) means that many professionals arrive in the league without having been chosen and as complete unknowns, which gives rise to all kinds of incredible personal overcoming stories. As an example, the undisputed best player of all time, Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots, was chosen in the sixth round, in the 199th spot of his draft class.
3. Everything is quantified. Everything that happens around this league is measured and put into a ranking or a graph. Rosters are divided into three main blocks: offensive players, defensive players, and special teams players, and all are absolute specialists. That is, a team's offense only plays against the other's defense. Playbooks and strategies have thousands of pages, and before deciding each play, all imaginable factors are taken into account. This requires measuring speed, distance, effectiveness, and dozens of other variants for each position on the field and for each specific play. And as complex as it may seem, the average fan loves to delve into that chess game that each snap or play entails and have as much data as possible at their fingertips to enjoy the game in all its depth.
4. Everything is heard. This is one of the most ridiculous things when one compares American football with European football. For us, it has become common to see professionals cover their mouths when speaking on the field so that what they say is not known, or how clubs have bunkerized themselves to limit and control access to information for fans. Well, the NFL is the complete opposite. During games, you can hear the quarterback calling plays or the referee addressing the public through a microphone to explain any penalty or decision. In addition, several players or coaches wear microphones while playing, and after games, magnificent summaries can be seen with the best comments before, during, and after the clash. And, of course, the clubs themselves disseminate videos with images of celebration or frustration from inside the locker room, including the coach's final speech to the team after each game. Really, the fan feels very much at the heart of their team.
5. Fantasy, a parallel sport. This is a concept that has been developing in Europe for years in sports such as football or basketball mainly, but with the NFL it has acquired a status almost similar to that of the sport itself. Fantasy is a virtual league that, based on the actions of each player and each team, awards a score. Fans choose their players and earn points according to their performance. Well, the concept has caught on so much in the NFL that the broadcasts themselves offer players' scores for Fantasy at the same level as their real performance in the game. Every fan plays in a private league against their family, friends, or co-workers, and the interest in winning your Fantasy competition makes you follow every detail from the first to the last game. There are sports programs and websites dedicated exclusively to Fantasy and professional leagues in which large amounts of money are moved, similar to what happens with online poker.
6. Use of technology. Obviously, the level of modernization in the NFL is extreme and nothing is left to chance. Games, with commercial breaks and timeouts, last almost three hours and all details must be offered, all the small sub-stories that help explain the great story of each match. The level of television broadcasts is spectacular, with an incredible number of shots and angles, which are also necessary for referee decisions. Every score or every change of possession is reviewed by video and can be overturned, while each team has the option to request a video review once per period. The margin of error is minimal and, when there are mistakes or unfair decisions, the scandal often leads to a quick change in the regulations.
7. Mix of tradition and business. American football is much more than a sport in the USA. It has long surpassed baseball as the national pastime, and watching a game on TV or in the stadium is almost sacred. The schedules allow families to enjoy football all Sunday, with batches of games at 1 PM and 4 PM local time (the Asian market does not decide when games are played). Thursday, Sunday, and Monday nights feature a prominent game, and all teams are required to play during these prime-time slots at least once per season. At these hours and on these days, everyone knows what to do: uphold the tradition of watching the game, just as everyone knows there is no NFL on Saturday because it is the quintessential day for college competition. Local audiences are prioritized, while at the same time, efforts are made to maximize business by obliging franchises to build stadiums with mandatory conditions for VIP lounges, restaurants, shops, etc., or by relocating teams to more commercially interesting markets. As an example, in the last two years, two franchises have landed in Los Angeles, and soon another will move to Las Vegas.
8. Globalization. It is clear that the league is designed to capture and exploit the interest of the local public. But that implies a limitation that the NFL is not willing to accept. For years, expansion efforts have been more than evident. Beyond distributing its signal to dozens of countries and developing specific content in various languages, the NFL has taken to the extreme the idea that the best way to attract a follower is to make them live the same experience as the local public. For this reason, the league has offices in Mexico and Great Britain, its two main markets and where several official competition matches are played each year. The visit of the different teams abroad is distributed and balanced so that all international fans can sooner or later see their favorite teams and players. Next year, it is estimated that four games will be played in London and one in Mexico City.
9. An audiovisual universe around it. Such a capacity to generate news, stories, and data needs very powerful communication support, and obviously, the league does not neglect this part either. Beyond the countless number of media outlets covering the competition, the NFL has its own television channel called NFL Network, accessible to the general public like any other pay channel. NFL Network is responsible for producing all kinds of content related to the competition: summaries, talk shows, analyses, historical games, etc. In addition, it offers a real-time carousel with the best of the games played simultaneously on Sundays. Along with the TV channel, there is NFL Films, which since the 1960s has produced cinematographic quality documentaries and reports around the league's universe.
10. Unlimited growth. All that mix of emotions, dreams, fears, and surprise is what the NFL sells better than anyone in a narrative that it monetizes masterfully, perhaps because of things like this. In the last four years, Roger Goodell, the league commissioner and direct employee of the 32 owners of the 32 teams, earned 145 million dollars, 65 million more than the highest-paid player. And what is Goodell's job? To make the amount divided among the 32 teams higher each year. The franchises equally divide the revenue that the NFL generates from television contracts (the big piece of the pie), sponsorships, licenses, and merchandising. Last year, that amount was 7.8 billion dollars. And forecasts are that by 2027, the NFL will be able to generate 25 billion dollars, of which approximately half will go into the pockets of the owners of the 32 franchises. The golden rule is clear: what is good for the sport is good for the business. And vice versa.