NFL earned record $1.8B from sponsorship deals in 2021-22 season, report says

Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Gambling contributed a big chunk of sponsorship revenue the National Football League received over the 2021-22 season, which was close to $2 billion.

Sponsorship firm IEG said that the league earned a record $1.8 billion in partnership revenue this season -- more than any other professional sports league and a 12% increase over the 2020-21 season. In 2019, the league earned $1.42 billion.

IEG's report said that gambling sites and technology companies heavily contributed to the record revenues.

"It's not coming from traditional places," IEG global managing director Peter Laatz told CNBC. "Not only are we seeing emerging talent on the field; we're seeing emerging categories."

Sports betting companies like DraftKings and FanDuel contributed a great share of the NFL's sponsorship revenues in 2021. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

Tech partnerships earned most of the $1.8 million for the NFL, followed by sponsorships with gambling and alcohol companies. Betting sites DraftKings and FanDuel became partners in 2021.

IEG said that lotteries, casinos and sports gambling accounted for the largest increase in NFL sponsorship deals, while tech deals contributed the most in absolute dollars.

One of the league's largest sponsorship deals is with Verizon, worth more than $300 million a year. The carrier signed a new 10-year deal with the NFL in September. Microsoft has a $100 million dollar per year NFL agreement and Anheuser-Busch pays the league more than $250 million each year.