Roger Goodell Completes Three-Year Extension, But Long-Term Future Unknown

NEW YORK – After months of anticipation and expectation, NFL owners approved a three-year contract on Tuesday for Roger Goodell, keeping the league commissioner in place through March 2027. 

Completed at NFL fall meetings in New York, the new deal is reportedly worth more than $200 million, including bonuses, bringing his total earnings with the league to about $700 million since becoming commissioner in 2006. That figure is more than twice the career earnings of any player in NFL history.

“This isn’t going to change how I go about my job day to day,” Goodell said after the meetings. “There are a lot of challenges out there, but there are also a lot of opportunities, and we continue to be focused on how we can make the NFL better.”

The continued confidence among team owners in Goodell is unsurprising, as the NFL has soared under his watch to unprecedented heights. In particular, the league signed in 2021 a set of domestic media deals worth about $110 billion and stretching through 2033. Those agreements helped solidify a key piece of league revenue in an age of accelerating media disruption.

There is similar longevity on the labor front as the current collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association runs through March 2030.

This summer’s sale of the Washington Commanders to a Josh Harris-led group for $6.05 billion also set a new U.S. pro sports record and reset the bar for NFL team franchise values.

Goodell has also proven himself adept at publicly navigating a series of difficult issues surrounding the league, in turn, shielding team owners. 

“We’re excited to have him, and are excited that he [still] wants to be here,” said Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay. “And that’s the thing. You have to have somebody that is all in. He’s excited, he’s in great shape, and is enthusiastic about taking the league to even greater heights.”

Goodell will be 68 when the new contract term ends, and he refused to say whether he will retire.

“If I was focused on my legacy, I wouldn’t be standing here in front of you. I wouldn’t have signed this extension,” he said. “I signed a three-year extension, and that’s what I’m going to do and we’ll see what the future holds.”