There were no rumors of Roger Goodell’s demise, but if there had been any they would have been greatly exaggerated.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the NFL owners and commissioners are expected to finalize a contract extension when the owners meet next week in Phoenix.
The report said that specific duration of the contract and financial figures were unknown, though a three-year deal has been previously discussed.
The deal, Schefter wrote, is expected to “be incentive-laden and, considering the league’s financial success, the most lucrative deal ever given to any commissioner in any sport.”
The New York Times reported in 2021 that Goodell’s total compensation for the 2020-21 fiscal year approached $64 million.
Roger Goodell and the NFL are close to finalizing a multi-year contract extension.Getty ImagesAt the time Goodell signed his last extension, in 2017, the league said that his tenure in charge would conclude with the deal in 2024.
“The commissioner has been clear he views this as his final contract,” former NFL communications executive Joe Lockhart said at the time.
Goodell’s last contract extension came after a challenge from Jerry Jones, the powerful owner of the Cowboys, who threatened to sue the league over the deal.
Jerry Jones unsuccessfully tried to block Roger Goodell’s previous contract extension.Getty ImagesThis go-round, according to Schefter, “appears to have gone considerably more smoothly.”
The NFL has warded off what appeared to be multiple existential crises for the league several years back, including the Ray Rice domestic violence tape and all of the fallout from Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem and subsequently failing to land a job in the NFL.
In 2022, the NFL accounted for 82 of the top 100 most-watched programs on linear TV, including the six highest spots and 22 of the top 23.
Under Goodell’s stewardship, the league finalized new TV deals in 2021 that kicked in last season — including a blockbuster contract with Amazon — and are worth a total of $100 billion over 11 years.
