In defending the Dallas Cowboys’ seemingly slow and deliberate negotiations with quarterback Dak Prescott and holdout receiver CeeDee Lamb, owner Jerry Jones took exception with any questions about his methods, his numbers and his knowledge of the NFL’s economic forecast.
He says no one in the NFL knows that better than him.
No one.
“You need to have a feel of where the revenue is going to be down the road,” Jones said. “I feel like I know better than anybody living or got a feel for what the revenue is going to be four, five, six years from now, than anybody living. I’ve spent all this time doing that. And if you don’t understand what the revenue is going to do, then you can’t look and see what the cap is going to be. And so it is an art, almost, about how to look ahead.
“We have presumed that that revenue goes up, and that’s one of the things just given in these contracts, the revenue goes up. Well, it went down in COVID. Am I optimistic? The most I’ve ever been. But we’ve got one thing staring us in the face that could dramatically reduce revenue.”
According to the Sports Business Journal‘s Ben Fischer, the NFL generated just $12 billion in revenue from the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a significant dip from the pre-pandemic estimate ($16.5 billion) and a $4 billion hit from the money generated in 2019.
Attendance across the league dropped 92% in 2020 during the pandemic.
And thus the NFL salary cap fell to $182.5 million in 2021, which was an 8% drop from the 2020 figure.
The 2024 salary cap of a record $255.4 million, a sign the NFL has fully recovered from its pandemic setback.
And while Jones feel good about the current state of the league, he cautions that another pandemic-type impact could wreck things again, thanks to last month’s $4.8 billion “Sunday Ticket” setback.
A jury in U.S. District Court ordered the NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion in damages after ruling that the league violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service.
The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses who paid for the package of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons on DirecTV.
The NFL plans to appeal the verdict, possibly all the way up to the Supreme Court.
Jones identified the “Sunday Ticket” setback as his reason for caution.
“Well, I’m just saying things like, we had a little deal down here in Los Angeles,” Jones said. “I was the only witness for the league.”
And he said that is why he is comfortable waiting on deal for Prescott, Lamb and possibly edge rusher Micah Parsons.
“That’s exactly what I’m really trying to tell everybody is, frankly, I’ve got a better feel than other people because I have a sense of what revenues might be for the whole league,” Jones said. “And so that if you see me optimistic, then you must know that I think it’s pretty good. If you see me a little cautious, you must know that I’m being cautious. I’m the best at looking around corners. As far as body language and instincts, I’m better than anybody.”
So are you being optimistic or cautious with the Cowboys contracts?
As [former two sport star] Deion Sanders said, ‘both’,” Jones replied.
