Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Go Long on Gini

Tuesday Morning Quarterback Gregg Easterbrook has bad news for those who lie awake nights worrying about inequality of incomes:

All rights fees shot up in the new round of NFL network contracts in effect this season, reflecting the incredible popularity of professional football. For television broadcast rights, the NFL now gets about $3.7 billion annually from ESPN, CBS, Fox, NBC and DirecTV ....

The way the latest NFL-NFLPA agreement works, for all intents and purposes, broadcast fees go directly to players. ...This season, average NFL pay -- monies actually received, not contract paper value -- will be somewhat more than $1.7 million per gentleman. That's almost exactly the $3.7 billion in broadcast rights fees, divided by roughly 2,000 NFL players on rosters or on injured reserve.

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