Technology, gambling and alcohol helped the NFL earn nearly $2 billion in endorsements this season.

The National Football League is approaching $2 billion in association dues, the most in professional sports.

The deals from betting firms and technology companies helped the NFL attract a record $1.8 billion in sponsorship revenue, sports association consultancy IEG told CNBC. The NFL figure is a 12% year-over-year increase from the $1.62 billion he earned in the 2020 season. He earned $1.47 billion from endorsements in the 2019 season.

Sports betting companies, casinos and lotteries saw the most significant increase in NFL sponsorship deals. DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars became sports betting partners in 2021 after the companies signed five-year deals worth just under $1 billion combined. The NFL has also secured secondary deals with BetMGM, WynnBet, FoxBet and PointsBet.

Partnership deals with the NFL typically last three to seven years and cost a minimum of $10 million per year for smaller companies. The most prominent companies could pay more than 200 million dollars a year.

Verizon has one of the best offerings in the NFL, paying the league more than $300 million a year. Last September, the communications company agreed to a new 10-year contract with the NFL and added 5G rights. But the new deal doesn’t include live streams of games, making it less valuable. That also means the NFL’s mobile rights are also up for grabs.

IEG’s estimates come days after the NFL produced one of its most memorable playoff weekends that included the thrilling overtime game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills. That game drew more than 42 million viewers, the highest divisional postseason game since 2017.

“It doesn’t come from traditional places,” said Peter Laatz, IEG’s global managing director. “It comes from emerging categories. We’re not just seeing emerging talent in the field, we’re seeing emerging categories.”

Although gaming sponsorships saw the largest increase in the 2021 NFL season, technology deals ranked first in absolute dollar numbers for 2021, led by Microsoft. The tech giant has an on-field deal with the league, which uses Microsoft’s Surface tablet. That deal is worth roughly $100 million per year, according to IEG data.

Gambling offerings ranked second and alcoholic beverage offerings ranked third.

Last December, the NFL renewed its agreement with Anheuser-Busch, which pays the NFL more than $250 million a year for beer and mineral water rights. The company lost control of the rights to high-proof alcoholic beverages, which Diageo took over for $30 million a year.

The NFL has put its wine and champagne rights up for auction, but has yet to establish a partnership for that category.

“They’ve cut those categories (tech and alcohol) pretty well,” Laatz said, calling NFL sponsorship money a “catwalk revenue train.” He then projected that the NFL would endure a “finer trim of categories” in the future to grow deals in the US.

Although total NFL sponsorship revenue grew significantly, most of that growth went to league-wide sponsorships, which were up 23%. NFL clubs only made 4% additional revenue in rights fees year over year.

To increase revenue streams for clubs, the NFL is taking a page out of the National Basketball Association’s playbook and allowing teams to tap into international markets. Last month, the NFL allowed 18 teams to market their intellectual property in 26 territories, including Canada, Germany, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

But it could be a while before teams see any real traction in that department.

There’s no question that the NFL is dominant domestically, but American football isn’t as big a draw abroad as the NBA. Also, Canada and Australia already have established football leagues, so the NFL has some serious competition.

Laatz said he is “skeptical” of the NFL’s overseas plan, which the league has dubbed “International Home Marketing Areas.” The NFL has tried to grow its product in London with its annual games and Germany has shown interest in the NFL.

But those sporadic overseas games may not be enough to bring the NFL to international prominence like the NBA.

“There’s a big difference between playing games internationally, which the NFL has clearly done, and having a prominent presence in the NFL to grow the game overseas,” Laatz said.

Still, to get an idea of ​​the value a US-based sports club can get from international deals: The Golden State Warriors, one of the most popular NBA teams abroad, agreed to a rights sponsorship multi-year globals with the FTX crypto platform for approximately $10 million in total.

Laetz believes deals from NFL teams could be even more lucrative.

Meanwhile, the NFL is taking a wait-and-see approach toward deals in the cryptocurrency space.

Last October, at NFL owners meetings in New York, officials told CNBC that crypto-related deals are still being vetted. Laatz called it the “sideline model,” in that the NFL waits to see how other institutions maneuver.

“They are careful not to enter into speculative deals that could cause a pushback,” Laatz said.

While the NFL stalls on crypto deals, companies are pouring millions into the NBA.

In addition to the FTX-Warriors deal, crypto platform Coinbase has agreed to a four-year, $192 million deal with the NBA. At the team level, the Los Angeles Lakers landed a $700 million naming rights deal with Crypto.com. And the Portland Trail Blazers landed the NBA’s first crypto jersey patch deal.

Outside of basketball, Major League Baseball added a crypto patch deal for its referees, and individual NFL players like Tom Brady are also landing crypto deals.

But Laetz says the delay won’t really matter, given the NFL’s broad revenue growth. “What they are leaving on the table right now is risk.”