As the NFL reaches the home stretch of the 2023 season, the league’s increasing off-field earning power continues to show why football remains king among U.S. professional sports.

Early projections for the 2024 NFL salary cap are reportedly coming in at more than $240 million, representing a significant increase over this season’s $224.8 million that each team is allowed to allocate for player contracts.

Multiple reports say that next year’s salary cap won’t be officially set until at least January, but NFL team owners are expecting a third straight year of major growth as league revenues are fully recovered from the pandemic. 

Soaring Cap 

Because of the disruption caused by COVID, the NFL’s salary cap — as well as every other major sports league’s — went through an up-and-down period:

• 2023: $224.8 million
• 2022: $208.2 million
• 2021: $182.5 million 
• 2020: $198.2 million
• 2019: $188.2 million

This season, revenue from the NFL’s new $110 billion media rights deals kicked in, adding a big boost to overall league cash intake. When final numbers come in, 2023 will represent another record year for the NFL.

In 2022, the league is believed to have brought in close to $20 billion in revenue — inching the NFL’s 32 owners closer to commissioner Roger Goodell’s long-stated goal of $25 billion in annual revenue.

Come 2024, there is no reason to think the NFL’s billions won’t be even bigger, either.

The Los Angeles Lakers have added some hardware to their storied history of accomplishments in the NBA. After defeating the Indiana Pacers in the final of the inaugural In-Season Tournament on Saturday, the Lakers won the first ever NBA Cup.

By most indications, the NBA’s attempt at a European soccer-style addition to the regular season was successful in piquing interest among players, coaches, owners, media partners, and fans. The tournament will return in 2024, and could evolve as the competition grows.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver was in Las Vegas as the tournament’s final four took place. Silver didn’t guarantee any changes for future editions of the IST, but admitted several aspects will be reviewed — like the point differential tiebreaker during group stage games.

Tiebreakers, Courts, and Money

“I’m not ready necessarily to move away from it,” Silver said. “But if ultimately there’s going to be a sense particularly from our American fans that it’s somehow an indication of poor sportsmanship, that’s not a good idea for us to be doing it. And maybe there’s some ways to tweak that.”

Another aspect of the tournament that might undergo a change involves the distinctive colored courts, which sparked some controversy among players. Silver said he’s a fan of the courts but knows safety needs to be a priority.

“I’m a big advocate of the colorful courts,” Silver said prior to the Lakers-Pacers championship game. “We want to make sure they’re not a distraction,” he said.

Additionally, Silver acknowledged players’ requests for prize money to be raised. The tourney’s winning players and coaches earned $500,000 each, while the runners-up got $200,000 apiece, and the semifinal losers took home $100,000 each.

“This is a business,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with money being a motivator in certain cases.”

The PGA Tour has lost its best player yet to LIV Golf, but the circuit says it’s getting closer to picking financial partners to help shape the sport’s future landscape.

Several days after Jon Rahm officially made the decision to accept what many believe is a $500 million-plus offer to join LIV, the PGA Tour said negotiations with the financial backers of its biggest rival are set to pick up — and that another group of well-known sports investors are closing in on a potential deal with the PGA Tour.

After originally receiving as many as eight bids from potential investors to either partner alongside Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, or even replace it, the PGA Tour is now down to one alternative option, in addition to the PIF.

The PGA Tour will advance its discussions with Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of investors that includes:

• Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio
• Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank
• RedBird Capital Partners founder Gerry Cardinale
• New York Mets owner Steve Cohen 
• Boston Red Sox parent company Fenway Sports Group
• Boston Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck
• Former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry
• Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts

A Dec. 31 deadline looms over the PGA Tour’s negotiations with the PIF, although that could be extended. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan recently confirmed it was likely that an additional investor would ultimately accompany any partnership with the PIF.

Editor’s note: RedBird IMI is an investor in Front Office Sports.

The University of Nebraska’s football team is heading into the winter after its seventh straight season with a losing record and no bowl game invitations. 

Despite the lack of success on the field, the Cornhuskers are planning $450 million worth of renovations to Memorial Stadium, all while millions of dollars are set to be cut from the university system’s academic budget. Over the next two years, the entire NU system is looking at a projected budget deficit of $58 million. Academic programs could be cut and staff laid off.

For some, that’s not adding up.

“They have their priorities all wrong,” American Association of University Professors president Irene Mulvey told the Associated Press.

The athletics and academic budgets are funded separately, and public dollars don’t support university sports. 

In 2022, Nebraska athletics generated more than $143 million in revenue. Nebraska athletics director Trev Alberts is tasked with persuading donors to provide enough money for the stadium renovations.

Desert Problems

In a telling example of how college cash problems can impact student-athletes, the University of Arizona faces a $240 million school-wide shortage following significant miscalculations in their financial modeling that could impact sports programs. Arizona currently fields 23 varsity teams, and cuts are being considered.

“Everything’s on the table in terms of dealing with athletics,” Arizona president Robert Robbins said last month.