9781422283080

32 = 1

By just about any measure, the National Football League is America’s—and perhaps the world’s—most popular sports league. With revenues of $13 billion in 2015 and a solid place atop opinion polls as “favorite sport,” the NFL is an enormous success. That it continues to grow is a testament to nearly 100 years of vision, ambition, and discipline. The men who formed the league in 1920 were unable to throw in the $100 their own rules said they owed. So they sealed their agreement with a handshake. Early NFL leaders built the framework that kept the league alive through the Great Depression and World War II. The era of television launched pro football on its dizzying ride. And now, in the digital age, detailed information hits hard and often. The people who built and continue to build the NFL are the subject of this book. This is a picture of pro football’s key figures then and now—from the commissioner to the league office to the 32 teams. They know their product. They understand its power. They never stop making it grow.

7