So you thought that the salary cap in 2014 would sky rocket thanks to the new television deals? Wrong. Baltimore Ravens team president Dick Cass said Thursday during the teams\’ end of the year press conference that not only will the cap remain flat in 2013, but 2014 as well.
“By the way, the cap is not expected to go up dramatically in 2014,” said Cass, when it was speculated by a member of the media that the 2014 cap will increase. “The cap this year is going to be roughly $121 million. It should not be much more than $122 million in 2014.”
Back in December of 2011 the league announced that it had agreed to nine-year extensions of its Sunday broadcast television packages with CBS, FOX and NBC that will keep NFL games on free television. The new agreements run through the 2022 season and the current television agreements expire following the 2013 season. The three networks are expected to pay roughly $3 billion a year on average annually for the broadcast rights.
In addition to those three main networks, ESPN re-upped its deal with the NFL back in September of 2011 at an annual rate of $1.9 billion. Also in place are deals with the NFL Network, DirectTV, Westwood One Radio and other media outlets. As a result, NFL teams will reportedly share nearly $7 billion in media money starting in 2014, which is more than $200 million per team.
It was reported on Wednesday that the salary cap for the 2013 season will be $121.1 million. In 2012 it was $120.6 million.
