THE GROSS FOOTBALL PRODUCT
REPORTED BY DORIS BURKE
March 14, 2011
So just what are NFL owners and players fighting over? The answer, of course, is money—$9.3 billion in revenue, to be specific. While the league won't divulge exactly how that figure breaks down (a sticking point in the ongoing labor talks), SI and FORTUNE have crunched the numbers to provide an unprecedented look at the game's GFP (gross football product), a figure roughly equal to the GDP of Macedonia.
10%
0%
1980
1990
2000
2010
• BENEFITS
According to a Congressional Research Service report, the league paid $919.6 million in benefits for retired players in 2006 and '07. The NFL says clubs contributed some $388 million in '06 to fund a range of benefits that included a supplemental disability plan, savings plan, an annuity program, group insurance, a health reimbursement account, a severance plan, tuition reimbursement and the 88 Plan, which provides for dementia care. The NFL estimated that '07 costs for these benefits would be $350 million.
• STADIUMS
NFL teams have erected 11 new homes in the past decade. Here, a breakdown of the financial burden shouldered by owners: