Playmakers: How the NFL Really Works (And Doesn t)

The “riveting” (Al Michaels) story of a modern NFL that can’t get out of its own way—and can’t stop making money

In recent decades, the NFL has simultaneously become an athletic, financial, and cultural powerhouse—and a League that can’t seem to go more than a few weeks without a scandal. Whether it’s about domestic violence, performance-enhancing drugs, racism, or head trauma, the NFL always seems to be in some kind of trouble. Yet no matter the drama, the TV networks keep showing games, the revenue keeps rising, and the viewers keep tuning in.

How can a sports league—or any organization—operate this way? Why do the negative stories keep happening, and why don’t they ever seem to affect the bottom line? In this wide-ranging book, Mike Florio takes readers from the boardroom to the locker room, from draft day to the Super Bowl, answering these questions and more, and showing what really goes on in the sport that America can’t seem to quit.

Packed with new insights and reporting on scandals past and present, this book will be the talk of the League—whether the League likes it or not.

Mike Florio is the creator and owner, in partnership with NBC Sports, of ProFootballTalk.com, one of the leading NFL news organizations in America. He co-hosts PFT Live a daily weekday show that streams on Peacock TV. During the NFL season, he also appears weekly on the Sunday Night Football broadcast. With regular appearances on national and local sports radio programs around the country, and more than 1.7 million followers on Twitter, Florio is among the most prominent football commentators working.