The NFL Salary Cap was ~$34 million when it was introduced in 1994. Today the Salary Cap is ~$260 million.

Has the NFL Salary Cap outpaced inflation?

If you use CPI to calculate the 2024 value of $34 million 1994 dollars, the answer is a MASSIVE YES.

According to CPI, $34 million in 1994 dollars is equivalent to $72 million.

According to the government, the NFL is a massive success, however...

If we use the M2 money supply growth as the proxy for inflation, things look different.

Using M2 as a proxy for inflation, $34 million 1994 dollars is equivalent to $205 BILLION.

Nearly 10x the current salary cap.

Neither of these measures is a perfect proxy for money supply growth (inflation). No one knows how many dollars exist and more can be "printed" at any time.

That said, NFL players likely make less than their 1994 counterparts.

They just seem richer because the "non-rich" have gotten poorer by comparison in the last 30 years.

I make wine, not sense.

I buy #Bitcoin, not dollars

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