NFL clubs today approved additional league-wide revenue sharing at a special league meeting in Dallas. 

The clubs agreed to pool the visiting team share of gate receipts for all preseason and regular season games and divide the pool equally starting in 2002 when the Houston Texans begin play. The NFL will realign into eight divisions of four teams each in 2002.

"Our traditional revenue sharing policies have served the league and its clubs well over the decades," Commissioner Paul Tagliabue says. "The additional step we approved today enhances those policies, and enables us to base future realignment on its merits, not on resulting economics."

The NFL’s revenue policies include an equal sharing of network television, network radio, national sponsorship, and licensing revenues as well as the 60-40 split of gate receipts.

As a result of today’s vote, all teams will receive an equal amount of visiting gate receipt revenue. Previously, each visiting team received a share of the gross gate receipts for their individual road games. This previous policy resulted in teams receiving an unequal amount of revenue from road games over the course of the season.

Club owners also today discussed various divisional alignments for 2002 but did not reach a consensus at this meeting. Discussion will continue at the regularly scheduled league meeting beginning March 27 in Palm Desert, California.