The NFL as a whole has increased its revenue every year for almost 20 years now, from around six billion U.S. dollars in 2004 to more than 15 billion U.S. dollars in 2019. In comparison, the revenue of Major League Baseball (MLB) was at 10.37 billion U.S. dollars in the same year, while the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Hockey League (NHL) generated around 7.92 and 4.37 billion U.S. dollars in annual revenue respectively. The Dallas Cowboys are the highest-grossing team in the league, generating around 950 million U.S. dollars in revenue, with the New England Patriots, the New York Giants, the Houston Texans, and the Washington Football Team rounding out the top five in terms of revenue in 2019.
In 2020, the Dallas Cowboys were also the most valuable franchise in the NFL, with an estimated value of 5.7 billion U.S. dollars. The Buffalo Bills were estimated as being the least valuable, with an estimated worth of 2.05 billion U.S. dollars. League-wide, NFL franchises were estimated to be worth around 3.05 billion U.S. dollars on average in 2019, demonstrating significant growth in overall team values since the turn of the century. Compared to the NBA, MLB and the NHL, NFL franchises are generally estimated to be the most valuable.
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 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. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots are the joint most successful teams of all time at the Super Bowl, having both lifted the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy a total of six times each.
