*This is an assignment for my Sports Digital Production clasa at Full Sail University*.

1. Name: Davin Runnerstrom
Course: Sports Business Models
Assignment: SWOT Analysis for a League of Your Choice
Date: June 5, 2022
Executive Summary
The NFL is the most popular sports organization in the world. It has a huge fanbase and hosts
one of the most televised sporting events in the U.S. every year, the Super Bowl. The NFL
averages approximately 66 million viewers per game and in 2022, the NFL’s Super Bowl
averaged 112.3 million viewers. In this document you will find what I believe to be the NFL’s
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Strengths
 Huge Fan Base
 The Super Bowl
Weaknesses
 Number of Games Played Overseas
 Price of Tickets
Opportunity
 Increase Global Fan Bases
 Create NFL Streaming Service
Threat
 Popularity of NBA, MLB, NHL

2.  NFL Stadiums Becoming Smaller
NFL’s Fanbase
The NFL is one of the largest sports organizations in the world and the most popular sports
league in America. According to Gough (2022), “The NFL is also the professional sports league
with the highest average per game attendance, drawing more than 66 thousand average spectators
per game and more than 16 million in total throughout the 2019 season”. The accessibility of
team news, interviews, and highlights from games and practices made available by social media
and smart phones have also increased the NFL’s fanbase. According to Tahmid (2021), “Besides,
the availability of smartphones made football more accessible to fans. As a result, the NFL has
become the most popular sport in America”.
The Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the NFL’s annual Championship game between the two best teams in the
league. It is one of the largest watched sporting events in the world today. According to Gough
(2022), “The NFL’s annual championship game, the Super Bowl, is one of the biggest single-day
sports events in the world, drawing high television ratings each year and generating several
billion U.S. dollars in consumer spending”. According to NFL.com (2022), “On Feb. 15, it was

3. reported Super Bowl LVI averaged an audience of 112.3 million, including 101.1 million
television viewers and another 11.2 million streamers. The game was available on NBC,
Telemundo, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital, NFL Digital and Yahoo! Sports mobile properties”.
Number of Games Played Overseas
Interest in the NFL outside of the U.S. in growing, but the NFL only plays a few games overseas
a year. According to AFI.com (2018), “Data compiled by Statista shows that Mexico’s 23.3
million is second only to the US with its 115 million fans”. AFI.com also stated, “Brazilians also
love NFL football it seems and the country comes a close third, with 19.7 million fans. Canada,
South Korea, Germany and the U.K. claim 7.21 million, 6.72 million, 6.6 million and 5.73
million fans, respectively”. With the increasing number of fans worldwide and other sports
organizations, such as the NBA, having international affiliates it may be time to consider
establishing teams in other countries or establishing another league for international countries.
Price of Tickets
Another issue for the NFL is the increasing cost of tickets to a game. According to Gough
(2022), “The average ticket price for a National Football League (NFL) game has seen a steady
increase in the last 15 years. During the 2021 season, a ticket for an NFL game would set a fan
back an average of 107.05 U.S. dollars”. In 2006, a ticket to an NFL game would cost
approximately $62.38 (Statista, 2022). Tickets to a regular NFL game now cost around $100.
Not too many fans are willing to pay that much for a ticket unless Tom Brady or Patrick
Mahomes are in town.

4. Increase Global Fan Bases
International interest in the NFL is growing. According to Gentrup (2022), “Countries on the list
include Mexico, Canada, Germany, the U.K., China, and Brazil, which already has 63.7 million
NFL fans. The league counts 190 million U.S. fans, but Chris Haplin, the NFL’s chief strategy
officer, told The Athletic “our next 50 million fans will come from these international markets”.
With the growing interest internationally, 18 NFL franchises have been awarded marketing
rights in eight different countries. According to NFL.com (2021), “The league announced
Wednesday that 18 teams have been awarded marketing rights across eight different countries.
This initiative, known as the International Home Marketing Areas program, grants clubs access
to international territories for marketing, fan engagement and commercialization as they build
their global brands and drive NFL fan growth internationally”. Obtaining marketing rights in
other countries is a huge opportunity for NFL franchises to generate more revenue.
Create NFL Streaming Service
The NFL normally sells broadcasting rights to DirecTV for their NFL Sunday Ticket package.
The NFL is set to launch their own streaming service called NFL Plus in 2022 and charge
customers roughly $5 a monthly for the service. The only issue with the service is that it only
allows fans to watch games that are available in their area. According to Florio (2022), “It’s not
Sunday Ticket, however. Fans would be limited to the games they otherwise could see on local
TV. If the NFL is going to launch its own streaming service, it should be a Sunday Ticket like
package so that fans that do not have DirecTV can watch any NFL game they want. This would
increase viewership and generate more revenue for the NFL and its owners.

5. Popularity of Other Sports Leagues
A threat for the NFL is the growing popularity of other sports leagues in the world, such as the
NBA. According to Curcic (2021), “The NBA gained 12.9 million new social media fans in
2021”. That is 1 million more followers than the other 4 major U.S. sports league during that
time. With the increasing popularity of their competition the NFL is going to have to expand by
playing more games internationally and by promoting the league internationally through social
media. The NFL’s competition is the NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS.
NFL Stadiums Becoming Smaller
NFL stadiums becoming smaller is an issue because it lowers the number of fans a team can
draw to a game. As a result of this, ticket prices, which are already expensive, are going to rise
which will not encourage fans to buy tickets. According to Wolf (2022), “Sports economist
Andrew Zimbalist of Smith College in Massachusetts said the stadium’s reduced capacity could
lead to fewer empty seats on game days and increased ticket prices, as well, based on simple
supply and demand’.

6. Sources:
Tahmid, N. (2021, September 7). Why NFL is the most popular sport in America. Sports Zion.
https://www.sportszion.com/nfl-most-popular-sport-in-america/
Around the NFL Staff. (2022, March 1). Super Bowl LVI total viewing audience estimated at over 208
million. NFL. https://www.nfl.com/news/super-bowl-lvi-total-viewing-audience-estimated-at-
over-208-
million#:~:text=15%2C%20it%20was%20reported%20Super,and%20Yahoo!%20Sports%20mo
bile%20properties.
Gentrup, A. (2021, September 30). NFL could add 50M international fans under new regulations. Front
Office Sports. https://frontofficesports.com/nfl-could-add-50m-international-fans-under-new-
regulations/#:~:text=Countries%20on%20the%20list%20include,come%20from%20these%20int
ernational%20markets.%E2%80%9D

7. Around the NFL Staff. (2021, December 15). NFL awards international marketing rights to 18 teams in
eight countries. NFL. https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-awards-international-marketing-rights-to-
18-teams-in-eight-countries
Florio, M. (2022, May 25). NFL will launch a paid streaming service. Pro Football Talk.
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/05/25/nfl-will-launch-a-paid-streaming-service/
Wolf, J. (2022, January 8). Why Buffalo Bills plan to reduce seating capacity, despite building a bigger
stadium. The Buffalo News. https://buffalonews.com/sports/bills/why-buffalo-bills-plan-to-
reduce-seating-capacity-despite-building-a-bigger-stadium/article_98cf44be-68f2-11ec-a0d8-
ef495b50e812.html
Curcic, D. (2021, November 5). NBA popularity stats. Run Repeat. https://runrepeat.com/nba-popularity
Mckeon, J. (2021, October 6). Countries with the biggest NFL Fan Bases. American Football
International. https://www.americanfootballinternational.com/countries-with-the-biggest-
nfl-fan-bases/
Gough, C. (2021, December 1). Average NFL ticket price. Statista.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/193425/average-ticket-price-in-the-nfl-since-2006/