WASHINGTON — There are signs that the recession is forcing belt-tightening in the NFL, a league with nearly $8 billion in annual revenue that has known only steady growth for years.

A number of teams announced they won't raise ticket prices for next season. The Washington Redskins have said they won't raise prices for general admission tickets. The Detroit Lions, who went winless this season, went a step further and indicated that they will reduce some of their ticket prices.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced last month that the league was eliminating about 150 of its approximately 1,100 jobs at its offices in New York, NFL Films in New Jersey and its television and Internet production facilities in Los Angeles.

The Washington Redskins, one of the league's most valuable franchises, laid off at least 20 employees at Redskins Park, their headquarters in Ashburn, Va., this month and an undetermined number at FedEx Field. The Cleveland Browns laid off 15 employees last week, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported. According to the Plain Dealer, the layoffs could total as many as 40 employees by the time the cutbacks are done, or about 25 percent of the team's staff. The Browns confirmed to the Plain Dealer that there were layoffs but didn't specify how many.

New York Giants owner John Mara called it "a distinct possibility" that other teams will have similar workforce cutbacks. He said it's too soon to know how teams' ticket sales and sponsorship deals for next season will be affected. Goodell indicated the league is braced for an impact of some sort.

"Sponsorships, licensing, ticket sales potentially — those are all things that we keep a very close eye on," Goodell said at season's end. "The good news is that the passion for the game has never been higher. There's more football. There's more appetite for football. We just want to keep being responsive to our fans and doing what's best for them as we work our way through this as a country, not just as a sport."