Millions of NBA fans want a League expansion towards big market cities such as Seattle, Las Vegas, Vancouver, and plenty more. Although commissioner Adam Silver is in unison with the thought of bringing new teams, contracts with televised broadcast outlets complicate the idea.
The League generates about $24 billion in revenue via its broadcast deals, according to Bill Shea of the Athletic. It’s mainly generated by the national televised games on ESPN, ABC, and TNT. Since their contracts with the networks expire after the 2024-2025 season, the League’s resurgence in ratings since the COVID-19 pandemic could prompt enough money from media rights partners to lock in the expansion.
“In order to evaluate any teams coming in, we need to know where we stand from a media standpoint,” Silver said, per NBA insider Baxter Holmes. “That’s obviously our most significant form of revenue overall.”
Silver had also addressed the integrity of competition in the sport amidst the rumors that teams are purposely tanking to draft Victor Wembanyamayear during the 2023 NBA Draft.
Silver, along with members of the board, thought of implementing an English Premiere League-like relegate to the NBA that would impose the worst team of a season to drop to the lower ranks, in which case, the G-League. However, because the relegation would imply that the best G-League team gets added to the NBA, the possibility of lost viewership and lack of competitiveness makes it a hard leap.
“It would so disrupt our business model,” Silver said. “And even if you took two teams up from the GLeaguwouldn’twouldn’tt be equipped to compete in the NBA.
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