The Patriots endured their first losing campaign in 20 years and went an entire season without welcoming fans to Gillette Stadium.
Yet, they’re still the second-most valuable franchise in the NFL, according to Forbes. The Patriots are valued at $5 billion, up 14 percent from last year. (The Cowboys top the list at $6.5 billion).
And they aren’t alone. The average team value soared to $3.5 billion in 2020, also representing a 14 percent increase.
In March, the NFL signed $111.8 billion in new media rights deals. That represents an 82 percent average annual increase over its current agreements. By 2032, the national media rights payout to each team will rise from $220 million this season to $377 million.
These figures may be surprising, considering we heard ad nauseam about the pandemic-induced financial struggles of pro sports franchises. The NFL experienced a 20 percent drop in in revenue and teams’ operating incomes plummeted. But the money kept pouring in, thanks to astronomical media rights agreements.
That’s some serious change.
The NFL still rules TV, even though ratings are slightly down. Last year, the NFL had 69 of the top 100 most-watched TV broadcasts.
But that’s an old story. What makes the league’s new media rights deal even more valuable is the advent of streaming. The league has a $13.2 billion deal with Amazon Prime for “Thursday Night Football.”
As chair of the NFL media committee, Patriots owner Robert Kraft has played a significant role in the league’s continued TV and streaming windfall.
The money is lifting every team up, including his own. Performance and value no longer go hand-in-hand.
