How small-market teams like Green Bay actually compete financially with major markets
The Green Bay Packers play in the NFL’s smallest market—a city of just over 100,000 people—yet they consistently rank among the league’s most valuable franchises and competitive teams. This seeming impossibility reveals one of professional sports’ most successful financial equalization systems, where teams in places like Green Bay, Kansas City, and Buffalo can go toe-to-toe with franchises in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas.
The Great Revenue Equalizer: National Revenue Sharing
The foundation of the NFL’s competitive balance lies in its aggressive revenue-sharing model. Recent financial data from the Green Bay Packers—the league’s only publicly owned team that must disclose its finances—reveals just how powerful this system has become.
In fiscal year 2024, each of the NFL’s 32 teams received exactly $432.6 million in national revenue sharing, representing a record $13.8 billion in total league revenue. This money comes primarily from national television contracts, which dwarf what any individual team could negotiate on its own.
To put this in perspective, Green Bay’s total revenue sharing payout of $432.6 million is more than the entire salary cap for player payroll, which sits at $279.2 million for the 2025 season. This means that before a single ticket is sold or hot dog purchased, every NFL team—regardless of market size—starts with enough guaranteed revenue to pay their entire roster and still have nearly $150 million left over.
The revenue sharing trajectory is equally impressive. The national payout has increased 115% over the past decade and is projected to reach more than $800 million per team within the next decade as new media deals continue to escalate.
The Salary Cap: The Ultimate Equalizer
While revenue sharing provides the financial foundation, the salary cap creates true competitive parity. Set at $279.2 million for 2025, the cap means that every team—whether they’re the Dallas Cowboys (valued at $9+ billion) or the Cincinnati Bengals—can spend exactly the same amount on player talent.
This hard cap system is stricter than other major sports leagues. Unlike the NBA’s luxury tax system or MLB’s competitive balance tax, NFL teams simply cannot exceed the salary cap, regardless of how much revenue they generate. A small-market team like Green Bay operates under the exact same financial constraints as the New York Giants.
The cap also includes minimum spending requirements, ensuring that all teams must invest a certain percentage of the cap in player salaries, preventing any owner from simply pocketing the revenue-sharing money.
Where Market Size Still Matters (And Where It Doesn’t)
The areas where large markets traditionally held advantages have been systematically minimized:
Television Revenue: Once the biggest advantage for major market teams, TV money is now entirely shared. Whether 100,000 people or 10 million people watch your local market, every team gets the same cut from national broadcasts.
Merchandise: While teams keep their individual merchandise revenue, the NFL’s national marketing approach means that successful teams in any market can develop nationwide fan bases. Green Bay’s global “Cheeseheads” following generates merchandise revenue that rivals any major market team.
Stadium Naming Rights and Local Sponsorships:
These remain areas where major markets hold some advantage, but they represent a relatively small portion of overall team revenue compared to the massive national revenue pool.
The Green Bay Model: Small Market, Big Profits
Green Bay’s unique ownership structure provides unparalleled transparency into how a small-market team operates financially. Their recent financial reports show operating profits of $83 million, demonstrating that small-market teams can be just as profitable as their major-market counterparts.
The Packers’ success stems from several factors:
Efficient Operations: Without the pressure to generate massive local revenues, small-market teams can focus on operational efficiency and smart spending.
Community Connection: The deep local connection often translates to higher season ticket renewal rates and stronger fan loyalty, providing stable local revenue streams.
Lower Operating Costs: Smaller markets often mean lower real estate costs, utility expenses, and other operational overhead compared to major metropolitan areas.
The Competitive Results Speak for Themselves
The proof of the NFL’s financial equalization system lies in the competitive results. Small-market teams have consistently punched above their weight:
• Green Bay has won multiple Super Bowls and consistently competes for playoff spots
• Kansas City has become the league’s premier dynasty despite being the 31st largest market
• Buffalo regularly contends in the ultra-competitive AFC East
• Pittsburgh, despite being a small market, remains one of the NFL’s most successful franchises
This competitive balance is unprecedented in major professional sports and directly correlates with the league’s financial structure.
Challenges That Remain
While the NFL’s system largely neutralizes market size advantages, some disparities persist:
Stadium Revenue: Teams that own their stadiums and surrounding developments can generate additional revenue streams through concerts, events, and commercial development. However, the league’s revenue sharing has grown so large that these differences are increasingly marginal.
Corporate Partnerships: Major markets still offer more opportunities for high-value corporate partnerships and premium seating sales.
Coaching and Front Office Talent: While not directly financial, major markets might have slight advantages in attracting top coaching talent due to lifestyle factors and media opportunities.
Looking Forward: An Evolving Landscape
The NFL’s financial model continues to evolve in favor of competitive balance. New revenue streams like sports betting partnerships, international games, and streaming deals are being negotiated with revenue sharing in mind. The league has learned that parity creates more compelling storylines and keeps more fan bases engaged throughout the season.
Recent media deals worth billions of dollars ensure that revenue sharing will continue growing, further strengthening the foundation that allows teams like Green Bay to compete with anyone. The success of small-market teams in recent playoffs and Super Bowls validates that this system isn’t just financially sound—it’s competitively effective.
Conclusion
The NFL has essentially solved one of sports’ oldest problems: how to create true competitive balance in a league with teams in vastly different market sizes. Through aggressive revenue sharing and a hard salary cap, the league has built a system where a team in Green Bay, Wisconsin, can compete dollar-for-dollar with franchises in the nation’s largest markets.
This model has made the NFL America’s most popular sports league, proving that market size doesn’t determine a team’s competitive destiny. Other leagues studying the NFL’s approach might find that embracing radical revenue sharing doesn’t harm the big-market teams—it strengthens the entire league by keeping every fan base engaged and every game meaningful.
The next time you see Green Bay competing in the playoffs, remember: they’re not overachieving despite their small market. They’re succeeding precisely because the NFL has built a system where market size matters far less than smart management, good coaching, and player development. In today’s NFL, David doesn’t need a slingshot to compete with Goliath—he just needs to operate within the same salary cap.
(Aspiring NFL Writer | Children’s Author | Chicago Bears Devotee in Chiefs Territory)