Business Breakdowns
Episode 96 The Business of Sport: NFL, F1, PGA Tour
Business Breakdowns

Episode 96: The Business of Sport: NFL, F1, PGA Tour

Business Breakdowns

Episode 96

The Business of Sport: NFL, F1, PGA Tour

To celebrate a big week in sport, we look back at our breakdowns of the NFL, Formula 1, and PGA Tour to highlight the most relevant insights from those conversations, giving a condensed masterclass on how each sport operates.

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PART 1: THE NFL (LINK TO FULL EPISODE)

[00:03:10] - [First question] - Overview of what the NFL is 

[00:04:32] - The financial side of the NFL as a business and their biggest points of growth

[00:07:46] - The rough growth rate of the NFL over the past five years 

[00:08:23] - General scale of the viewership and audience of the NFL 

[00:09:54] - How the NFL is structure and what’s unique about it 

[00:14:07] - The media rights profit split 

[00:15:43] - Other major differences between the NFL and other major sports leagues 

[00:16:40] - The implications of players getting paid a set pool for their team 

[00:18:09] - The history of the NFL and its rise to prominence  

[00:21:23] - Big milestones and when the NFL became bigger than the MLB

[00:22:48] - Evolution of their media rights and viewership over the decades

[00:24:39] - How their game schedule creates scarcity within football

[00:27:20] - Additional revenue streams at the league level 

[00:30:28] - The major contributing factors to the NFL’s costs at the national level 

[00:32:03] - What it costs to run an NFL game give or take 

[00:33:00] - Other drivers that could move the topline revenue today

PART 2: FORMULA 1 (LINK TO FULL EPISODE)

[00:35:25] - The viewership and fanbase of Formula 1 as it exists today 

[00:36:47] - To what he most attributes the massive size of F1’s reach to

[00:38:00] - Overview of the three unique revenue buckets for F1 

[00:39:54] - The economics of the racetracks and their promotional revenue 

[00:43:54] - Thoughts on expanding the number of races and tracks 

[00:46:17] - How F1’s broadcast deals work and how they generate revenue

[00:51:11] - Sponsorship revenue and how they work writ large 

[00:53:17] - Partnering with Netflix and opening up drivers on social media 

[00:57:49] - The Concord Agreements and why the 2021 agreement was so different

[01:00:05] - What great means for cars, drivers, and teams 

[01:04:18] - What will be the most different about F1 in the next five or so years 

PART 3: PGA TOUR (LINK TO FULL EPISODE)

[01:07:41] - A basic summary of the PGA tour and its size and scale today 

[01:11:23] - Overview of the Tiger tax 

[01:13:24] - When the PGA tour was founded and key moments across its history 

[01:20:04] - Making the switch from a For-Profit to a Nonprofit organization

[01:20:03] - The business structure of the PGA tour writ large 

[01:24:53] - Reasons behind the 72 hole stroke play format 

[01:27:09] - How the revenue is paid out and the split across players and operating expenses

[01:30:24] - Why the SGL and PGL tour believe they can disrupt the PGA tour 

[01:38:38] - Changing their format would result in nuking their existing business model 

The Business of Sport: NFL, F1, PGA Tour

Introduction

Dom
This is Dom Cooke. And this week is a little different. It's Super Bowl week and to get in the mood, we're doing sports special as we break down the business behind 3 iconic sports, the NFL, Formula 1, and the PGA TOUR. Now these aren't new episodes. We've covered each of these sports over the past 2 years on Business Breakdowns. But for this episode, we have condensed those conversations into 100 minutes of action, focusing on the similarities and differences between these major leagues.

In terms of revenue, the NFL dwarfs the other 2 sports. But in terms of eyeballs, Formula 1 is the clear global leader. And from a strategic perspective, it's fascinating to see the evolution since we aired these episodes. For example, you'll hear Formula 1 CEO talk about the U.S. being a key growth market. And then you'll notice that last week, Red Bull unveiled their 2023 car in New York. This year's calendar has 3 U.S. races. Similarly, the upcoming weekend is the second in a series of PGA TOUR events designed to bring more of the top golfers together on a regular basis. Neil explains why that was desperately needed in more detail towards the end of this episode.

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