REUTERS/Sean Gardner
The general consensus was that the league made out like bandits.
They didn't have to acknowledge liability for the brain injuries suffered by players, the $765 million was a significantly smaller sum than anticipated, and they have 20 years to pay it off.
NFL commissioner
He told the AP today, "This is a significant amount of money."
It's not. $765 million is nothing to a league that makes $9.5 billion per year in revenue and rising.
Under the terms of the settlement, the league has to pay out 50% of the amount in the next three years, and the other half over the next 17 years.
Here's how that works out:
- Cost per team (2013-15): ~$3.9 million
- Cost per team (2016-2033): ~$703,00
As Deadspin pointed out last week, the NFL stands to make $180 billion in total revenue in the next 20 years, even if it completely stopped growing.
So this settlement will be, conservatively, 0.4% of total revenue during the period in which it is paid out.
Regardless of whether the players could have gotten more in the settlement, $765 million is chump change to the NFL.