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There has been much talk in recent years about a possible expansion of the NBA beyond its current 30 teams, but in recent months this talk has intensified. Adam Silver he came back to talk about it once again.
“We haven’t finalized the media deals yet, but when we do, we’ll consider expansion. I’ll just say it’s more complicated than it seems. Because if you look at the deals these days, for example, once they’re finalized, if you bring in new partners, it will dilute (the current teams).”
Con “media agreements” Silver points to the negotiations that are underway to decide which entity will own the rights to the NBA. ABC/ESPN/Disney, Amazon, Warner Bros. and Comcast/NBC Universal are the companies most likely to split the programming. In a combined package estimated at $76 billion in 11 years starting from 2025-26.
“Sometimes it seems like expansion is printing new money, but it’s really no different than selling stock in your business. So I think there needs to be a good deal of modeling with the league office, working with the owners, and really thinking about the long-term outlook. Not just from an economic standpoint, but also thinking about talent distribution.”
In fact, one of the main reasons why the NBA is called for opening up to more teams is precisely the overabundance of talent. Today, every team has a star, many have more than one, and even the average rotation player has a very high technical level, which he cannot show off due to his limited playing time.
So to know what decisions the Commissioner will make we will have to wait for him to finish the negotiations with the media and for him to discuss with all 30 owners the possible dilution of each team’s television revenues.
There are still details to be discussed with the media, and according to Silver, most of them are out of his control. Then there will be decisions to be made about which cities will host the new franchises, if any. Seattle e Las Vegas they are the favourites, but there has also been a lot of talk about Mexico CityWhile Montreal e Vancouver they showed interest.
2024-07-17 15:22:09
#expansion
