NBA commissioner Adam Silver believes that resolving local broadcasting issues is a higher priority than expansion, Tom Friend of the Sports Business Journal reports.
Silver wants to see a full transition from ailing Regional Sports Networks and cable TV to streaming services, he told ESPN analyst Bob Myers during the Sports Business Journal’s CAA World Congress of Sports.
“I … hate to make it so negative, but [local game broadcasts] are caught in legacy media, which is rapidly declining,” Silver said. “And our young fans, in particular, we used to talk about cord-cutters; they’re really cord-nevers. It’s not part of their lives to buy cable … And so the local situation by definition will then get even worse.”
Silver believes that some teams are actually losing significant revenue by being “trapped” on cable.
“I actually think we’re undervaluing live sports right now and the specialness around it,” he said, noting that RSN rights fees have taken a “25% hit collectively; for some teams it’s around a 50% reduction.”
Silver added that “two-thirds of the NBA teams are operating with RSNs that just came out of bankruptcy [Main Street Sports Group] or some that were completely defunct [AT&T SportsNet].”
The answer, which could come over the next two offseasons, is to create a national streaming RSN platform while simultaneously reaching agreements with streaming services such as Amazon, YouTube, Apple, ESPN+ and Roku.
Expansion in the short run is “not a foregone conclusion,” Silver said, until those broadcasting and rights fees issues are sorted out.
As for expansion, it’s not a slam dunk that Seattle and Las Vegas will be the next two cities awarded franchises. Vancouver, which lost the Grizzlies to Memphis in 2000, is interested in re-obtaining a franchise, Silver said.
Silver also addressed the NBA’s desire to have a European league. He envisions having 12 permanent franchises and four other clubs that would have to “play in on a yearly basis,” such as established EuroLeague teams. Cities like Paris, London, Berlin, Barcelona, and Madrid are candidates for permanent franchises.
“Just to be clear, this would be a standalone league,” Silver said. “It wouldn’t be a division of the NBA. Maybe one day some of these teams could be a division of the NBA. I mean I am always reading about new supersonic air jets, jets that are coming online. I mean, I think that could dramatically change things of faster flight.”
If by “broadcasting” you mean the product being broadcast, then sure.
Maybe the RSNs are failing because their programming is boring. Who needs another Stephen A? Who needs Stephen A to begin with. It all sounds rather generic. When I was younger, after listening to the Warriors games, I’d switch over to a station that played Led Zeppelin and the Sex Pistols. Now they play Taylor Swift every hour.
That’s not really the point. No content no matter how exciting is going to get people to watch and buy cable, with the exception of live sports, which fills maybe 4 hours of airtime a day, max (except baseball which seems to be on all the time for hours on end, but is also coma-inducing). This is happening across the television landscape. It’s not unique to basketball.
NBA teams need to own their local broadcast, create a streaming service and do your own broadcast. Maybe also partner with a local channel to broadcast the games, but having a cheap streaming service for the games is the best option imo.
I think this is what silver is saying…
There is enough money, and technological capacity for all games to be offered for free in all markets. If you want to build a league in Europe and have it be successful, this is the only way.
Basketball owners and the NBA have printed money in the salary cap, with global superstar personalities bringing many multiples of revenue compared to their actual salary.
Stop milking the fans. Get better refs that consistently apply the rules to everyone. Fine people significantly for flopping, and take game checks for those who play dirty (Green, Brooks, Dort)
Adam Silver is going to ruin this game in ways we never will overcome. I miss David Stern days. Say what you want about him and how he vetoed the Lakers CP3 trade, the Patrick Ewing gift to Knicks etc but nobody questioned his leadership and integrity for the game of basketball, whether it’s fans/media/players/executives. Everyone knew that David Stern was good for the game of basketball and the ratings and boom in basketball globally reflects that.
I just want to know how you rationalize saying nobody questioned Stern’s integrity in the same sentence where you recite his veto of the CP3 trade and the Ewing gift? And you, a Bulls fan. I recall that Stern was the lead conspirator in selling fans that bill of goods that was Jordan’s first “retirement.”
Jordan’s “retirement” was indeed a retirement. Lol so you’re saying that James was a hit and forced MJ into retirement to publicize his gambling issues? Ya’ll just be reading anything on the internet these days. I remember that summer, the media and public were seeking justice for James Jordan in July 93, and Michael retires in October 93? 2.5 months after his dad’s death? Hilarious, because if that’s the case then Magic’s “HIV” was a lie due to his well known womanizing and love for both sexes and cocaine.
Exactly Raz. They hate Jordan mostly because he had both parents and many of them Cannot relate.
Next you’re going to tell me that you believed Jordan when he said he was retiring in order to spend more time with his family! I guess that would mean Tito Francona was his family, and that Michael’s dream of family togetherness was riding a bus through the South with a gang of 20 year olds stopping at minor league parks in podunk towns to play poorly at a kids game.
Adam is right on the cord nevers. I live in a building full of young things with 6 community tvs avaliable that have streaming services few have ever heard of that don’t know what sitting down on a couch to watch anything is like. Everything has a fob attached to everything while I am at it.
I only disagree with the streaming stuff because there to many against the too few.
It’s not scalable like cable was for decades.
Make league pass more affordable and there is no issue. 15.99 per month sub instead of the 150 for the entire season. Having to sub to multiple platforms to watch the NBA is inconvenient. And yes I’m using that word instead of saying stupid.
It’s really a shame it’s not a priority for the NBA to stream 4K. Especially if they want to cut deals with streaming companies.
It’s 2025 and we still watching 1080p content at best. That’s just not good enough sorry.
PLAY EVERY SCHEDULED GAME ON NBATV NO MATTER HOW CLOSE TO A CITY THE GAME IS!!!!!! I’ve been so furious having every single Thunder game blacked out on that channel and I’m not paying for league pass to watch a game that should be shown on DirecTV.
The thing he didn’t tell you was the out that NBC Sports have the tv viewership falls below a certain number
I don’t get why there are problems. First it is a local network. Nothing will ever replace that. MSG will never give up Knicks telecasts. No one knows their team better than the local crew. Now I get most teams are in business with other companies for local telecasts. They are not like MSG and Knicks. Any telecast can be streamed today. You don’t need local cable companies any more. Either they update or get left behind.
local rights belong to the local team. And that should never be messed with. This feels like monster compnies trying to steal a local product. Big market sports cities dont need or care about big companies. This is our thing. And WE allow you to be a part of it. Sterling is just looking for more money. You know what they say when you chase the all might dollar. You become MLB on Steroids …..