Ben Gilbert

Yep.

That's per year.

Right.

Just to be clear, that is per year.

It is this flywheel that makes the NFL teams collectively worth something like $140 billion today.

And you could argue that the TV networks were getting a great deal for many, many, many more years.

And I think at the end, I want to discuss, are they getting a good deal today?

But everyone was getting a pretty good deal here because the fan base was growing so much more quickly and the number of viewers was growing so much more quickly than these deals could get renegotiated.

And the AFL, to put a finer point on what you're saying, they had a shoot the moon strategy.

They wanted to come out of the gate with a bang.

They wanted to burn real hot.

and under the right circumstances, have that go really well for them.

And they had the exact right circumstances.

It was the boom of TV in America.

So they could do things like go sign Joe Namath for the Jets to a gigantic contract and just have New York and half of America fall in love with him and turn him into a superstar that benefited the league.

Yep.

We'll take second place when there's a bunch of sad people willing to throw money at second place.

Even though it's like less than half the per year amount.

I honestly, I only knew it because I saw him on a Brady Bunch episode.

It's like this cultural touch point where Joe Namath was so big that he actually appeared on a Brady Bunch episode.