Restaurant spending per capita

American average NFL salaries and American per-capita restaurant spending, both climbing for nearly two decades. The seven-figure paycheck and the casual-dining bill, on the same upward path. Both ledgers were generous.

Average NFL salaries grew from about 1.4 million dollars in 2005 to over 3 million by 2022 as the salary cap rose and broadcast-rights revenue compounded. US per-capita restaurant spending grew steadily through the 2010s as casual dining and delivery normalised eating prepared meals away from the kitchen. Two completely unrelated American economic lines sharing a window because the same eighteen years inflated both elite-sports compensation and a household discretionary-spending category. Different invoices.

Two completely different American budgets grew. The contract and the dining bill, both up.