A Home Game Without the Home Revenue
The Washington Commanders are listed as the home team for Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, but the matchup is taking the place of a game the club would normally have played at Northwest Stadium in Maryland. That shift changes the financial picture significantly. Under the NFL's international series, the league runs a far more centralized operation than it does for standard regular-season games, and the old practice of sending a set payment to the designated home team for lost ticket sales ended in 2022. Instead, the league now covers a large share of travel and accommodation costs for players and equipment.[S1]
For the Commanders, the net result is not favorable. Owner Josh Harris acknowledged as much when asked about the economics at a London pub where the team hosted fans on Saturday, saying the arrangement is bad in several respects. He added that his focus is less on the finances and more on being part of the NFL community and expanding the sport internationally. Team president Mark Clouse offered a similar view from the same bar, where roughly 2,000 supporters had gathered, describing the overseas game as an investment in the future of both the league and the franchise.[S1]
How the NFL's Overseas Push Has Grown
The league's international ambitions have expanded sharply over the past decade. In the 2015 season, there were three overseas games, all of them in London. This year, the NFL is staging a record nine international games across seven countries and four continents. Those games serve several purposes at once: they introduce the league to new markets and new fans, and they create an additional domestic broadcast window. The Commanders-Colts game, for example, kicks off at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time, giving the NFL another slot on the weekly calendar and more leverage with its media partners.[S1]
For individual clubs, the international series brings both opportunities and complications. The finances may not fully balance, but overseas games let a franchise's American fans take a different kind of road trip and can attract new followers in distant markets. That comes with added costs, including fan headquarters in London staffed with current and former players in the days before the game, as well as some extra income. By Saturday, the Commanders had sold out much of the merchandise they had brought to London.[S1]
The Money Behind a Standard Home Game
In a typical regular-season home game, NFL teams keep about 66% of ticket sales revenue, with the remaining 34% going to the league for pooled sharing. Revenue from concessions, on-site merchandise, parking and premium seating is overwhelmingly retained by the home team, and those are the streams that are largely lost when a game moves to London. The Commanders are valued at $9.64 billion, according to Sportico's figures, which ranks them 11th in the NFL. The team generated about $719 million in revenue last season.[S1]
Clouse would not go into detail about how much money the NFL gives teams that play abroad. In the international series' early days, the league provided the designated home club with a stipend to make up for part of its losses. Once the schedule grew to 17 games, the NFL required every franchise to appear internationally at least once every eight years and shifted to a system that only reimburses costs. Clouse said the teams agree on pooling resources and investing jointly to build a strong experience, are happy to participate and excited to be in London, and that each overseas contest reveals more fans wanting to make the trip.[S1]
Little Choice, and One Team's Exception
For most NFL franchises, international games come around less than once per year. The Jacksonville Jaguars stand alone, operating under a unique deal with the league that gives them two London home games every season. Harris said Saturday that clubs have limited influence over being chosen for international matchups, though the selection indicates things are going well. He said the league essentially informs a team it is a good, exciting squad that fans want to see and that it is headed to London, leaving the club to concentrate on delivering a good experience for its fans, community and players.[S1]
