The division of revenue between the NFL owners and players has been one of the key issues throughout the negotiation.  For this year, players will receive 48 percent of the revenue, based upon information that has come out from the negotiations. 

The players’ share of revenue will be calculated as follows:  55 percent of League Media (including TV and radio), 45 percent of NFL Ventures (licensing products) and 40 percent of local club revenues.

The players share has an upper limit of 48 percent for 2012-2014 and 48.5 percent for 2015-2020, and a lower limit of 47 percent throughout the agreement.

In case that structure wasn’t complicated enough, the owners will also be entitled to an aggregate “stadium credit” of up to 1.5 percent.   The stadium credit could reduce the lower band to 46.5 percent in 2015-16 and 46 percent in 2017-20, but the players are guaranteed a minimum of 47 percent over the life of the agreement.

This means that both sides will contribute, directly or indirectly, to increasing the overall revenue with upgrades to new facilities, and the new formula will allow both sides to benefit from these increases.

The old revenue sharing system with the players allowed the owners to take all of the first $1 billion, and divide the remainder with the players.  The new plan includes no “carve out” for the owners and splits all revenue between owners and players. 

While the players have conceded a few percentage points, they are taking a slightly smaller percentage of a bigger pie.