Revenue Playbook: What Fuels the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL

Author

Conner Schenk
November 26, 2024

๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†'๐˜€ ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜„๐˜€๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ:

๐Ÿ’ฅ ๐๐ซ๐จ ๐’๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐‘๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ง๐ฎ๐ž ๐๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ค๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง

๐Ÿ’ฅ ๐€๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐š๐›๐ฅ๐ž ๐ˆ๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐’๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐š๐ฅ๐ฌ

๐Ÿ’ฅ ๐‘๐ž๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐œ๐ž๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐‚๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐„๐๐ฎ๐œ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐’๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ

๐Ÿ’ฅ ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ง๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐“๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐ญ ๐’๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ

๐Ÿšจ๐”๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‘๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ง๐ฎ๐ž ๐ƒ๐ฒ๐ง๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐œ๐ฌ ๐€๐œ๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ ๐’๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ.๐Ÿšจ

Each professional league has unique revenue structures shaping its growth and challenges. From the NFL's media dominance to the NHL's reliance on ticket sales, each league operates with distinct strategies that reflect its audience, market potential, and competitive positioning.

๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜€:

๐Ÿˆ National Football League (NFL): ($๐Ÿญ๐Ÿด.๐Ÿณ๐—• ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฏ)The undisputed king of media deals, but can it diversify beyond national TV? Revenue Driver: Dominated by National TV/Media (66%), with minimal reliance on local TV (1%).

โšพ๏ธ Major League Baseball (MLB) ($๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฌ.๐Ÿต๐—• ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฏ): A model of regional loyalty, but will cord-cutting challenge local TV dominance? Revenue Driver: Balanced, with Ticket Sales (31%), National TV/Media (26%), and Local TV/Media (23%) all significant.

๐Ÿ€ National Basketball Association (NBA) ($๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฌ.๐Ÿต๐—• ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฏ): Global expansion powerhouse, but how reliant is it on superstar appeal? Revenue Driver: Dominated by National TV/Media (41%), followed by Ticket Sales (26%).

๐Ÿ’ National Hockey League (NHL) ($๐Ÿฒ.๐Ÿด๐—• ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฏ): The most fan-dependent league, but how can it close the gap in media revenue? Revenue Driver: Reliance on Ticket Sales (44%), with smaller contributions from media rights.

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐ญ ๐’๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ

At Constant Sports, our mission is to drive growth and connection within the sports industry by providing a platform ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€, ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€. We believe in the power of networking and knowledge-sharing to elevate the industry and inspire the next generation of sports leaders. By fostering these connections, we aim to empower our community to achieve their professional goals and make a lasting impact in sports.

๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐ญ ๐’๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐๐œ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ

In the latest episodes of the Constant Sports Podcast, weโ€™ve hosted several insightful guests who are pushing the boundaries in college athletics, NIL, and the sports business. Hereโ€™s a look at what they shared.

These episodes are packed with valuable takeaways on leading athletic programs, building athlete brands, innovating in club management, and driving revenue in the sports industry. Be sure to tune in for these expert perspectives!

๐๐ž ๐š ๐†๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ง ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐ญ ๐’๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐๐œ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ

Are you or someone you know interested in being a guest on The Constant Sports Podcast? We would love to hear from you. Complete the form below, and we will contact you.

Sports Graduate Programs & Job Openings

Are you looking to take your sports education and career to the next level? The Constant Sports team has compiled a list of sports graduate programs spanning across the United States. Each program displays a wide variety of classes, professors, locations, and more. Take a look at the website for more information. We also have had numerous program directors on the podcast, check those episodes as well.

Full Breakdown of Sports Graduate programs across the country

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐’๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐‰๐จ๐› ๐Œ๐š๐ซ๐ค๐ž๐ญ: ๐Ž๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ & ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ง๐ ๐ž๐ฌ

The sports industry continues to grow as a global powerhouse, offering roles in marketing, analytics, content creation, sponsorship sales, NIL management, and more. However, navigating this competitive job market reveals both opportunities and challenges.

๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ

1๏ธโƒฃ Diverse Opportunities

2๏ธโƒฃ Growth Potential

3๏ธโƒฃ Passion-Driven Work

๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ฌ

1๏ธโƒฃ High Competition

2๏ธโƒฃ Pay Disparities

3๏ธโƒฃ Limited Pathways

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๐™๐™ค๐™ก๐™ก๐™ค๐™ฌ ๐™ช๐™จ ๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™จ๐™ค๐™˜๐™ž๐™–๐™ก ๐™ข๐™š๐™™๐™ž๐™–, ๐™จ๐™ช๐™—๐™จ๐™˜๐™ง๐™ž๐™—๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ฌ๐™จ๐™ก๐™š๐™ฉ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง, ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™Ÿ๐™ค๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ข๐™ข๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฎ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™˜๐™ž๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™š ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™จ๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™จ ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ.

๐Ÿ‘‡๐‘บ๐’–๐’ƒ๐’”๐’„๐’“๐’Š๐’ƒ๐’† ๐’•๐’ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ช๐’๐’๐’”๐’•๐’‚๐’๐’• ๐‘บ๐’‘๐’๐’“๐’•๐’” ๐‘พ๐’†๐’†๐’Œ๐’๐’š ๐‘ต๐’†๐’˜๐’”๐’๐’†๐’•๐’•๐’†๐’“ ๐’•๐’๐’…๐’‚๐’š!๐Ÿ‘‡