The NFL is the most popular program on television. Each year we see the game of football grow more and more, and not just stateside. With all this growth, naturally, the NFL salary cap continues to expand as well.
As NFL Network reported, the league’s salary cap could reach as much as $220 million per franchise in 2023. The current cap number teams must stay under is set at $208.2 million, which is also a record-high.
While the $220 million mark would be a new record, it also shouldn’t surprise anyone. It’s not like anything is getting less expensive, so why would the NFL be any different?
It may confuse some, but the NFL’s salary cap did recently decrease from 2020 to 2021 after COVID-19 complications resulted in tons of lost revenue, where the cap number went from $198.2 million down to $182.5 million. Yet, that was unprecedented. As NFL Network reported, the cap continually grew each season from 2013-2020 at roughly $10.74 million per year.
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NFL salary cap will only continue to grow
As more updated TV deals continue to get signed, NFL revenue is through the roof. They haven’t even settled on a new permanent home for NFL Sunday Ticket, which allows fans to watch any out-of-market game live on their streaming devices.
While DirecTV has exclusive rights in 2022, that will be changing in 2023. The reported acquisition cost for brands such as Amazon, Apple, Disney, ESPN, and more could reach as much as $2.5 billion per season.
While the $220 cap number is still just an estimate, we should learn a potentially more accurate number in roughly two weeks, when owners and team executives gather for their annual Winter Meeting, set to take place from Dec. 13 to Dec. 14. Others have suggested the final mark could come in much higher than $220 million per franchise.
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