Money trail starts in Packers’ books

Bless the existence of the Green Bay Packers. As the only publicly-owned team in the four major pro sports, they provide the public with a fascinating look inside the NFL’s finances.

The Packers’ annual report was released Wednesday, and it revealed an NFL awash in cash. The Packers reported a record $610.3 million in revenue for 2022-23, up $31 million from the year before, per the Green Bay Post-Gazette.

Most impressively, the Packers collected a record $374.4 million in national revenue, which is their 1/32nd share of the NFL’s TV and media deals. That’s money each team collects before selling a single ticket, hat, jersey, or beer, and represents about 60 percent of a club’s total revenue. The Packers also reported $235.9 million in local revenue, which is not shared.

Extrapolating the Packers’ numbers for the rest of the league, the NFL collected approximately $20 billion in revenue in 2022, putting the league on track for Roger Goodell’s long-term goal of $25 billion by 2027.

“It was another strong financial year for the Packers, the second year after the pandemic with normal operations,” said Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy.

The release of the numbers is timely in New England, where everyone is starting to notice that the Patriots have been among the league’s lowest spenders the last few years.

The Packers won’t reveal their 2022 player costs until Monday’s shareholder meeting, but last year, the Packers’ national revenue from TV deals exceeded their player costs. The Patriots spent just shy of $200 million on player salaries in 2022, though that doesn’t include benefits, and are spending $201 million so far in 2023.