Football is king, and the NFL its master. Revenues in 2019 alone were $16 billion – over a billion dollars a month!
Of course, there was revenue decline for 2020 of about $4 billion because many stadiums weren’t allowing in-person attendance.
If the NFL season was year-round, 2020’s revenue would have been $24 billion. That rivals the revenues of companies such as PayPal (PYPL) and Starbucks (SBUX)!
So if you ask the question “Can I invest in the NFL?” In short, no, unfortunately this isn’t possible.
Like the National Basketball Association (NBA), the NFL is a privately owned organization. It isn’t publicly traded and most likely never will be.
You might not be able to buy shares in the NFL, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways of investing in your favorite sport.
Can You Invest in a Football Team?
The only publicly owned NFL team is the Green Bay Packers – but they aren’t publicly traded. Rather, the Packers are owned by Green Bay Packers, Incorporated, which is a non-profit made up of 361,311 shareholders.
The shares are known as “common stocks” but these are not the same as, say, the common stocks of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A & BRK.B).
Shareholders don’t have the same rights as the usual common stock owner and shares pay no dividends. Shareholders cannot trade their shares and – perhaps the biggest kicker of all (pun intended) – the shares do not enjoy the protection of securities law.
Green Bay Packers’ stock value will never increase and there’s no correlation between team revenue. The Packers have issued stock five times since 1923. The last time was in 2011 when Lambeau Field required renovations.
Can You Buy Stock in an NFL Team?
It’s an extremely exclusive club of individuals who ever fulfill the dream of owning an NFL team. For those of us who can’t, there are still opportunities to own a slice of the sports pie – by investing in the companies that own our respective favorite teams.
Just because sports team owners own a team, doesn’t necessarily mean they’re rolling in the dough. In fact, many owners don’t do it for the profits – instead, they seek to increase a team’s value. For instance, the Dallas Cowboys’ value has consistently increased its value annually.
Is the NFL a Publicly Traded Company?
The NFL is not publicly traded.
Instead, it is an association of teams operating under the rules of the league.
The NFL is the league’s office, administrating rules, providing officials, drafting players, and offering negotiations on behalf of each team in regards to collecting revenues from advertising, television commercials, and other monies.
What Company Owns the NFL?
There isn’t just one individual owning the NFL. Instead, it’s a league comprised of franchises and teams.
There are 32 teams in the NFL, and only one is owned collectively (Green Bay), whereas all others are owned individually.
Can You Buy Stocks in Sports Teams?
While you cannot buy stocks or own shares of sports teams, there are other ways to invest in sports.
Some of the companies below are attached to the teams listed:
- Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL) – Miami Heat
- Nintendo (NTDOF & NTDOY) – Seattle Mariners
- TD Ameritrade (AMTD) – Chicago Cubs
- Rogers Communications (RCI) – Rogers Communications
- Madison Square Garden Corp (MSGS) – New York Knicks & New York Rangers
- Liberty Media Corporation – Atlanta Braves
- Comcast-Spectacor (CMCSA)– Philadelphia Flyers
Which NFL Team is the Most Valuable?
As of August 2021, the Dallas Cowboys (for the 15th year in a row) were named the most valuable team in the NFL, worth $6.5 billion.
Other top valuable NFL teams include:
- New England Patriots at $5 billion
- New York Giants at $4.85 billion
- Los Angeles Rams at $4.8 billion
- Washington Football Team (formerly the Redskins) at $4.2 billion
On the other side of the field, the Buffalo Bills are the least valuable NFL team with an operating income of -$17.6 million.
Alternatives to Investing in the NFL
In addition to the other ways you can invest in the NFL noted above, you can also stake a claim on your favorite sports teams by taking part in sports betting.
In 2020, it was estimated that the sports betting marketplace was worth more than $200 billion worldwide. In the U.S. alone, that figure is expected to reach more than $28 billion by 2025.
If you want to get in on the action, DraftKings (DKNG) is a way to go. As the official betting partner for the National Football League, DraftKings is the largest fantasy sports site worldwide.
Can I Invest in the NFL – The Bottom Line
No, you can’t invest in the NFL directly.
There isn’t another sports league in the world that’s quite like America’s NFL. Some might argue that European soccer leagues might be more world-famous, but at the same time, there’s a certain X-factor when it comes to U.S. sports.
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