NBA's huge TV deal means more for players and owners to fight over
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio - The men from the NBA, ESPN and Turner patted each other's backs, smiled and joked, reveling in their new multibillion-dollar contract.
Rightfully so, too.
The NBA and its media partners negotiated a nine-year deal worth $24 billion that will keep NBA games and exclusive content on ESPN, ABC, TNT and NBA TV and other multimedia platforms through the 2024-25 season.
It was a good day not only for the NBA and its owners, but also for players, as they split basketball-related income 50-50 with owners. Media deals take up the biggest piece of the revenue pie.
But beneath the increased profits for owners, salaries for players and video content for fans is the potential doom and gloom of another NBA labor conflict.
Though the collective-bargaining agreement expires after the 2020-21 season, the National Basketball Players Association and the league can opt of out after the 2016-17 season. No one will be surprised if either side - or perhaps both - wants out of the deal to negotiate a new one.
The last round of bargaining resulted in a lockout, a shortened schedule and the loss of money for players and owners. The players' 57-43 split dropped to 50-50.
At the time, the league said more than 20 of its 30 teams were losing money. But revenue has grown (along with player salary), losses have stabilized and more teams are profitable.
Players have taken note of the price new owners have paid for NBA franchises - $550 million for the Milwaukee Bucks and $2 billion for the Los Angeles Clippers in the past five months, with the Atlanta Hawks also up for sale. Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is interested in selling shares of his team, as well.
Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James, a vocal supporter of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, didn't want to talk specifics about the revenue split but noted that if owners claim they are losing money, 'That will not fly with us.'
James was diplomatic Monday. 'As a players association and as owners, we've got to figure out how we can continue to grow the pie and continue to grow the business of the game. That's the No. 1 objective,' he said. 'Both sides continue to grow, but there's some things we'd like to see changed, as players.'
In what no doubt will be a quote used often between now and the end of the next CBA talks, Wizards owner Ted Leonsis said, 'There's never been a better time to be an owner of an NBA franchise or frankly any professional sports team.'
That kind of talk shows why players will look at this new TV deal and the recent big-money team sales and want a higher percentage of the revenue.
New NBPA executive director Michele Roberts praised the deal Monday, but ... There's often a but.
'Our job will be to ensure that the players receive their fair share of the results of their efforts,' she said in a statement.
More than one eyebrow was raised at NBA headquarters when the players selected Roberts as executive director. She is a skilled litigator - the kind of attorney the NBA might want on its side - and owners are expecting a battle when collective bargaining talks seriously begin.
The players might not be the only side that wants a bigger piece of the pie. A 50-50 split seems fair, but too much is never enough for owners, who have spent years amassing billions. As James astutely noted, 'You always want more and give less.'
Remember the NFL lockout in 2011? Owners in that lucrative and popular league wanted a bigger share of the pie from players, and they got it. Don't think NBA owners weren't paying attention.
Someone isn't going to get their way. If past CBAs are an indication, owners will win. They almost always do.
How they get there is another matter. The NBA has had work stoppages that didn't result in the loss of regular-season games.
It's quite possible there's another work stoppage, but it better not end up costing regular-season games, not with all that money at stake. Remember the smiles of those ESPN and Turner executives Monday? They will not be happy if regular-season games are lost and they lose revenue.
The next round of CBA negotiations might be laborious and contentious, but neither side wants to see all that money slip away.
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