The way I understand it Jersey revenue is collected in terms of license fees and this is then shared between the league and players. In other words Reebok has paid the NFL for the right to produce jerseys. It’s this fee that goes into a pool of revenue that is shared with players, akin to TV revenue.
Interestingly enough though, there is a penalty to any player who decides to change his number or name after a seasonal deadline set by Reebok/Nike etal. It’s part of the licensing deal to protect the manufacturer and (presumably) their distributors from holding on to dead product. A player who still wants to make the jersey switch must effectively buy the back catalog of jerseys from the supplier.
Take Adrian Peterson. He tweeted this a few years ago:
“So here is the deal with the number change!,” Peterson tweeted. “So I received a call and I was informed that I would’ve to buy all jerseys that’s been produced Thus far! N the total amount that I would have to pay blew my mind!!!!! Why? Ok so I see maybe ten thousand dollars of my total jersey sales! That’s it!!! In I know I’ve mostly likely been in the top ten When it comes to top sales ! Why in the hell do I have to pay a Million dollars to change my number! I don’t even get paid a million Dollars by my sponsors a year! Wow!!! N I’m talking about my nike deal!”
Thats the concussions writing, right there. Couple FReepers write like that, too ;)