More than giving back, the NFL acknowledges it makes money by depending on Black athletes, and its new investments are considering the communities where its athletes come from.

In 2021, 71% of players in the NFL in 2021 were people of color, according to the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. So when the NFL needed to borrow $78 million last year, they worked with the National Black Bank Foundation to choose 16 Minority Depository Institutions, community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and women-focused banks.

“It's a way of showing that you are putting your money where your mouth is and helping to build community – and particularly the communities that the players and the talent come from,” says Brandon Comer, the co-founder of the National Black Bank Foundation. He helps small banks work together to land these bigger deals and create a seamless lending experience that can compete with traditional big banks.

Comer says previous loans made to the Atlanta Hawks and Major League Soccer offered a crucial proof of concept that helped make the NFL and other large institutions comfortable on the foundation's ability to deliver both the loan as well as the community impact. And the NFL deal has put an even bigger spotlight on these banks' power.

“If there is a pretty good size manufacturing company, for example, that's in the footprint of one of these banks, when they see a headline that a bank has executed a deal with the NFL, it serves as a strong validator,” Comer says. “We've seen several examples where businesses have gone into these banks and said, Hey, we'd like to open an account, or we'd like to do business with you because we saw this headline. We didn't even know you were here, or we certainly didn't think you were of the size that you could handle our business.”

On this episode of the podcast, we speak to Comer and the Community Development Bankers Association's Brian Blake about the impact of the NFL's work with small Black-led banks and the ripple effects of these types of financing deals in minority communities.

This episode is based on an article that's part of our series, CDFI Futures, which explores the community development finance industry through the lenses of equity, public policy and inclusive community development. The series is generously supported by Partners for the Common Good. Sign up for PCG’s CapNexus newsletter at capnexus.org.

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