Last season, the NFL generated $10.5 billion in revenue, of which a solid $1 billion was profit. That’s a lot of money. And yet despite basically being able to fill a Scrooge McDuck tower thousands of times over, the NFL has been a tax-exempt non-profit organization — until today. [More]
nfl
After Decades Of Raking In Mountains Of Money, NFL Finally Decides To Abandon Not-For-Profit Status
By 4.28.15
SEC Alleges Ex-NFL Player Ran $31M Ponzi Scheme
By 4.7.15
In football, a cornerback is tasked with defending against pass offenses. It appears one former NFL player wasn’t doing much defending on behalf of investors off the field. Instead, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleges former New York Giants player Will Allen used his big league connections to assist in the operation of a $31 million Ponzi scheme based on making loans to cash-strapped pro athletes. [More]
NFL Linebacker Files $20M Lawsuit Against Bank Of America For Alleged Fraud
By 4.1.15
When looking to manage one’s money, it wouldn’t be unusual to seek advice from the financial professionals at one of the country’s largest banks. But an NFL linebacker says his decision to rely on Bank of America to manage his finances cost him millions of dollars and led to the closing of his budding restaurant business. [More]
NFL Suspending TV Blackout Rule For 2015 Season
By 3.23.15
The country’s most-watched pro sport might be even more watched following an announcement today that the NFL will suspend its television blackout policy for the 2015 season. [More]
Google & NFL Strike Deal To Bring NFL Content To YouTube
By 1.26.15
Just in time for the Super Bowl this weekend, the National Football League has decided to play nice and share with others, announcing a partnership with Google this week that will bring game highlights to a YouTube channel and search results. [More]
Some NFL Fans Will Have To Wake Up At 6:30 A.M. To Watch Games Next Season
By 1.22.15
One reason I could never live on the West Coast — aside from the warrants out for my arrest in every county from Multnomah to Imperial — is that I’d have to wake up before noon on a Sunday to watch football. But today the NFL decided that the entire continental U.S. must wake up early to catch games — or at least the three bouts taking place in London in 2015. [More]
NBC To Stream Super Bowl To Convince People To Buy Cable
By 1.20.15
Rather than requiring that online viewers prove they have cable TV subscriptions in order to watch its live stream of the Super Bowl, NBC has decided that giving un-cabled Americans online access to the year’s biggest non-curling single-night sporting event is the perfect opportunity to convince people to ante-up for pay-TV. [More]
CBS To Continue With Thursday Night Football Next Season
By 1.19.15
Even though the current NFL season has yet to reach its peak in the annual “I Watch It for the Commercials Bowl,” the professional sponsorship league that also involves football has already announced some plans for next season, like the fact that CBS will continue to prop up the NFL Network by airing a bunch of primetime weeknight games again. [More]
NFL Players’ Lawsuit Over Use Of Their Avatars In EA’s Madden Games Gets The Go Ahead
By 1.7.15
It isn’t just former college football players upset with video-game maker Electronic Arts for using their likenesses in games without getting paid for it: A federal appeals court judge has just given another lawsuit against EA the go-ahead, this one brought by former NFL players who are ticked off that EA used their avatars in the Madden NFL series without proper compensation. [More]
Sprint’s “Framily,” NFL’s Family Of Disloyal Fans Lead List Of 2014’s Worst Ads
December 31, 2014
There has been a lot of discussion in recent years about what exactly constitutes a “family” in a time when people can have deeply felt connections with those they’ve never met while simultaneously having no meaningful relationships with their kin in the next room. But regardless of how they define familial relations, Consumerist readers have resoundingly let it be known that there were two advertising families that they wanted nothing to do with in 2014. [More]
Nike Officially Dumps Adrian Peterson After Plea Agreement
By 11.7.14
After previously suspending its endorsement contract with Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson when he was accused of hitting his son, Nike has now officially dropped the NFL player after his plea agreement to a misdemeanor assault charge. [More]
Colin Kaepernick Fined $10K For Wearing The Wrong Headphones
By 10.10.14
As we mentioned earlier this week, the NFL has banned players from wearing any non-Bose headphones on the field, in the locker room or while talking to the press after the game. Which is why San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick is being hit with a $10,000 fine for sporting a pair of the Beats headphones (that he gets paid a lot more than ten grand to endorse). [More]
Beats Headphones Join iPads On List Of Products Banned From NFL Sidelines
By 10.6.14
While NFL stars like Colin Kaepernick might love the Beats by Dre headphones they get paid to wear, they won’t be allowed to sport the fashionable headgear on the sidelines of their games, or even around their necks during post-game interviews, thanks to an exclusivity deal reached between the league and Bose. [More]
Senators: NFL Could Lose Tax Breaks, Antitrust Exemption If Blackouts Continue
By 10.2.14
Earlier this week, the FCC voted unanimously to repeal its 39-year-old Sports Blackout Rule, which that prevented the broadcasting of certain sporting events if they weren’t sold out. While that decision removes federal involvement in blackouts, the pro sports leagues may still negotiate private blackout deals with broadcasters. However, a pair of prominent U.S. Senators have warned the NFL to not go that route. [More]
NFL Sunday Ticket To Remain A DirecTV Exclusive
By 10.2.14
Millions of football fans now have a reason to not ditch DirecTV. After months of negotiations, the satellite service has finally renewed its deal to be the exclusive carrier for NFL Sunday Ticket. [More]
FCC Repeals Sports Blackout Rule, But Blackouts Will Continue
By 9.30.14
Calling the NFL on its bluff to move its broadcast games to cable, the FCC voted unanimously this morning to repeal the outdated sports blackout rule that prevented the airing of certain games that weren’t sold out. Though it doesn’t mean the end of blackouts. [More]
You Could Buy 5 Tricked-Out Teslas For the Price Of One Sunday Night Football Ad
By 9.25.14
Are you thinking about advertising your business on prime-time network TV? It might be a good investment, but for the price of just a single ad on one show, you could treat yourself to a very expensive, maxed-out electric vehicle. [More]
Baltimore Ravens Exchange 5,595 Ray Rice Jerseys, Run Out Of Replacements
By 9.22.14
To say that the Ray Rice jersey exchange held by the Baltimore Ravens this weekend was popular with fans is perhaps an understatement. After all, with a line half a mile long to turn in Rice jerseys in exchange for jerseys bearing the names of other Ravens players, it’s no surprise that the team ran out of replacement jerseys at around 5,595 exchanges. [More]
