Fan price-squeeze index: rights revenue up, fan access fractured

Year the NFL signed its current broadcast deals: 2021

Combined value of those deals, through 2033: $110 billion
(S&P Global/SNL Kagan, August 2025)

Total NFL revenue in 2024: $23 billion
(S&P Global Market Intelligence, October 2025)

Average national revenue distributed to each NFL franchise in 2024: $433 million
(CNBC, September 2025)

Average cost to a US fan of full legal access to every NFL game in 2025: $935–$1,500
(NAB, Fox, and Sinclair filings, FCC Docket MB 26-45, via NewscastStudio, April 2026)

Average monthly expenditure on streaming subscriptions per US household in 2025: $69
(Deloitte Digital Media Trends 2026, via Variety, March 2026)

Percentage of US streaming subscribers on ad-supported tiers in 2025: 68
(Deloitte Digital Media Trends 2026, via Variety)

Percentage of sports fans who say they subscribe to too many platforms to follow their sport: 44
(Hub Entertainment Research survey, December 2025–January 2026, cited in Sinclair FCC filing, via NewscastStudio)

Percentage who say they have missed games because they lacked the correct subscription: about 50
(Sinclair FCC filing, via TheDesk)

Percentage who describe themselves as at least somewhat frustrated finding games: 87
(Sinclair FCC filing, via TheDesk)

Year Amazon Prime Video took over Thursday Night Football as its first exclusive NFL package: 2022

Amount fans vs. non-fans spend monthly on streaming: 27 percent more
(Deloitte Digital Media Trends 2026, PR Newswire, March 2026)

Percentage of consumers who identify as fans of at least one entertainment category: 80
(Deloitte/PR Newswire)

Year the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), the federal law prohibiting most US states from legalizing sports betting, was passed: 1992

Year the Supreme Court struck it down: 2018
(SCOTUSblog, Murphy v. NCAA)

Number of US states with legal sports betting in 2018: 1

Number of US states with legal sports betting in 2026: 39
(Britannica)

Total amount legally wagered on US sports in 2025: $165 billion
(SportsHandle, February 2026)

Operator revenue from those bets: $16.96 billion
(American Gaming Association/SportsBettingDime, February 2026)

Growth in US sports betting operator revenue from 2024 to 2025: 22.8 percent
(AGA/SportsBettingDime, February 2026)

Amount spent on TV advertising for sports betting in the US in 2023: $402 million
(MediaPost/EDO Ad EnGage, February 2024)

Annual marketing budget of US sportsbooks FanDuel and DraftKings: more than $1 billion each
(Scaleo, April 2025)

Number of US and Canadian adults who played fantasy sports in the past year: 84 million
(JpLoft, 2025)

Players registered in the Fantasy Premier League in 2024/25: 11.2 million
(DemandSage, December 2025)

Players in ESPN Fantasy Football in 2025: more than 14 million
(DemandSage)

Number of NFL stadiums accepting cash in 2019: about 30

Number accepting cash by 2022: 1
(FSR Magazine)

Year of the first cashless Super Bowl: 2021
(NBC News)

Stated rationale, per the NFL-Visa announcement: fan safety and speed of service.
(Visa/BusinessWire, November 2020)

Stated additional benefit: access to data on “when, where, and how much consumers spend”
(NBC News/CNBC, November 2020

Average price of an adult Premier League replica shirt in 1992: about £30
(Footy Headlines, August 2022, citing 1992 Adidas catalog; specific clubs such as Manchester United, Tottenham, and Liverpool at £29.99 confirmed by Hobby FC, February 2024)

Inflation-adjusted value of that price in 2025: about £78
(editorial calculation with Bank of England CPI data, per Hobby FC)

Current price of an adult replica shirt at the most expensive Premier League clubs: £85
(GiveMeSport, July 2025)

Average price of a Liverpool season ticket in 1992/93: £250.

Inflation-adjusted to 2024: £534.

Average price of a Liverpool season ticket in 2024/25: $1,048
(Sportcal, September 2024)

Average price of the cheapest adult season ticket at a Premier League club in 2024/25: £570
(Medium/Jonathan Coste, September 2024)

Rate by which that increase outpaced UK inflation in a single year: 7.5 percent vs 2 percent
(Medium/Coste)

Price of Arsenal’s cheapest adult season ticket in 2025/26: £1,127
(GiveMeSport, March 2026)

Price of the cheapest adult season ticket (West Ham United) in the Premier League in 2025/26: £345
(PremierLeagueNow, October 2025)

Average price of a Premier League matchday ticket in 2025/26: £60
(Benchviewstv, April 2026)

Average price of a Bundesliga matchday ticket in 2024/25: €28.78
(DFL official press release, July 2025; full data at DFL Economic Report 24/25)

Bundesliga ticket-price increase since 2019/20 vs. German general inflation over the same period: 9.6 percent vs. 21.8 percent
(DFL Economic Report 24/25)

Price of the cheapest official NFL replica jersey when Nike took over in 2012: $85
(ESPN, April 2014; Time, April 2014)

Price of the cheapest official NFL replica jersey in 2026: $130
(Nike.com, current retail)

Price of the most expensive: $399.99 ($449.99 for custom name)
(NFL Shop)

Average cost of attending an NFL game in 2014: $113
(FinanceBuzz)

Average cost of attending an NFL game in 2024: $158
(FinanceBuzz)

Amount by which NFL average ticket costs outpaced general inflation, 2014–2024: 40 percent vs 32 percent
(FinanceBuzz)

Amount by which NFL resale ticket prices rose in real terms, 2015–2025: 173 percent
(Gametime/Axios Kansas City, February 2026)

Dallas Cowboys luxury suite revenue in 2024: $130 million
(Sportico, September 2025)

Percentage of 49ers suite inventory that will be Owner’s Club level after current renovation: nearly 80 percent
(Sportico, September 2023)

Annual revenue of the cheapest NFL franchise (Tennessee Titans) from ticket sales in 2024: $81 million
(Sportico)

Average attendance at National League South football matches in 2024/25: 1,221
(SW Londoner, May 2025)

Percentage increase in that figure since 2014/15: 134 percent
(SW Londoner)