San Francisco 49ers boast highest ticket income for 2024 with a staggering sum of $176 million
The NFL's 2024 season has come to a close, and the ticket revenue numbers are in. The San Francisco 49ers have once again taken the top spot, marking their third consecutive year as the league's leading team in ticket revenue.
The 49ers' impressive revenue of $176 million was $40 million more than the Dallas Cowboys, who ranked second with $136 million. The Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, and Miami Dolphins rounded out the top five, with revenues of $130 million, $129 million, and $127 million respectively.
The Tennessee Titans, despite a 10% increase in ticket revenue to $81 million, found themselves at the bottom of the league for the second year running. The high ticket revenue of the 49ers is attributed to the demographics in and around Santa Clara, California, where Levi's Stadium is based.
With the NFL's current 17-game schedule, ticket revenue distribution among teams involves sharing gate receipts from home games. Each team generally hosts about half that number in home games, with revenue from ticket sales primarily benefiting the home team, but with a portion shared across the league to promote parity.
Expansion to an 18-game schedule could increase ticket revenue but also complicate scheduling and revenue-sharing formulas. Teams like the Green Bay Packers, with high local demand and capacity, could stand to gain more ticket revenue from additional games compared to smaller market teams.
The Titans' ticket revenue impact is influenced by their weaker schedule and fewer premium broadcast games, possibly limiting revenue growth compared to teams with more exposure and paywalled games. The Packers are unique as the publicly owned team with strong local season ticket demand and a large stadium capacity, so more home games or changes in game distribution could disproportionately increase their ticket revenue relative to other clubs.
In a notable change, the NFL now pays teams' travel expenses for their international game instead of making up the shortfall in local revenue when teams have to relinquish a home game to play internationally. Every team will play internationally at least once every eight years under the expanded 17-game schedule.
The Green Bay Packers posted a record revenue of $719 million in 2024, an increase of 10%. This record revenue was achieved in their first-ever season with nine regular-season games at Lambeau Field. The Niners' season ticket revenue also received a boost in 2021 due to price increases and free concession items.
The NFL gathers the data for ticket revenue annually and shares the results with its 32 teams. According to NFL bylaws, teams are required to share 34% of ticket revenue with other clubs. Every team received roughly $27 million from its cut of visiting teams' share in 2024.
The Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals had the next-lowest gate receipts in the league, with revenues of $83.3 million and $83.4 million respectively. No recent changes specific to ticket revenue sharing formula with the 17-game schedule were detailed explicitly in available sources, but ongoing talks about season length expansion suggest the league carefully balances revenue and competitive fairness around these adjustments.
The NFL did not respond to a request for comment on the contents of the report regarding the Green Bay Packers' record revenue and the San Francisco 49ers' leading position in ticket revenue.
The San Francisco 49ers' dominance in American-football, particularly football ticket revenue, continues, with their $176 million revenue in the 2024 NFL season being $40 million more than the Dallas Cowboys, who ranked second. Moreover, the introduction of an 18-game schedule could potentially increase ticket revenue for high-demand teams like the Green Bay Packers, who posted a record revenue of $719 million in 2024.
