So, what are the players getting?
For starters, more money, in the form of a higher share of league revenue beginning in 2021. This year, players will get 47% of all league revenue, in keeping with their number from the current CBA. The expansion of the postseason by two teams will generate an estimated $150 million, according to the NFLPA memo, and 47% of that is $70.5 million. So that will be additional revenue going to the players that they wouldn’t have received without the playoff expansion.
Starting in 2021, the players will get at least 48% of all league revenue, and that figure could get higher depending on how the league does in negotiating new TV deals. Once the league moves to a 17-game season, the players’ share of revenue includes a “media kicker,” which constitutes an additional share of revenue based on the size of the TV contracts. According to the NFLPA memo, if the league’s TV revenues increase by 60%, the players’ share of revenue increases to 48.5%. That share can climb as high as 48.8% if the league’s TV revenues increase by 120% or more, and it cannot be reduced via “stadium credits” — meaning that any money the owners take off the top of the revenue pile for stadium construction and renovation cannot push the players’ share of revenue below 48% (or whatever the media kicker brings it to) during the life of the deal.
The new deal also will give the players 70% of incremental revenue from the league’s Los Angeles Stadium project, meaning 70% of any revenue that exceeds projections in any given year. And they will get a share of revenues from legal gambling operations conducted in stadiums, whether that gambling is on NFL football or other sports.
Which players will benefit the most from the new system?
It seems the lower-earning players — roughly 60% of NFL players operate on minimum-salary deals — will get the most significant bumps in pay, at least right at the beginning. Minimum salaries are increasing by around 20% immediately. A player with less than one year of NFL experience is set to earn $510,000 this year under the current deal. That number rises to $610,000 in 2020 if the new deal is signed, and the minimum salary for players with less than one year of experience rises incrementally throughout the deal, reaching $1.065 million in 2030.
“According to the NFLPA memo, if the leagues TV revenues increase by 60%, the players share of revenue increases to 48.5%. That share can climb as high as 48.8% if the leagues TV revenues increase by 120% or more...”
Is there any reason to think THIS is gonna happen? Haven’t ratings gone down the last two years?