Expansion might not be coming soon after all, if certain NBA owners get their wish. There is not overwhelming momentum to immediately expand beyond the current 30 teams, Mike Vorkunov and David Aldridge of The Athletic report.
The league’s Board of Governors are meeting today and expansion is one of the topics anticipated to be discussed.
As one might expect, the lack of enthusiasm among some owners regarding expansion is due to money. The league’s new 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal begins next season and several owners would rather begin collecting and splitting that new revenue among the existing teams, rather than giving a share or shares to incoming franchises.
Each current team is set to collect hundreds of millions of dollars over the life of the new rights deal, which will be a boon to franchises who have lost many millions in revenue due to the collapse of the regional sports networks. Adding two new teams within the next year or two would dilute the potential revenue from the national TV networks over the next decade, The Athletic duo notes.
However, there is some incentive for the current teams to bring in new teams. With valuations of current franchises continuing to rise, expansion fees are certain to go well beyond the previous projections of at least $5 billion per new franchise.
Seattle, which lost its franchise to Oklahoma City, remains a top candidate for a new or potentially relocated team. Las Vegas has also been prominently mentioned as a prime candidate to get a franchise.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver indicated last month that expansion may not be as much of a priority for the league as some fans are hoping, saying that it’s not “automatic” that the league will decide to add more teams. Silver cautioned then that there are concerns among the current owners about bringing in more partners to divide up revenues.
Of course since it’s probably people like James Dolan and reinsdorf where change is too scary for them
Man it looks like we’re going to have to wait another 5 years or more in Seattle
maybe they don’t want to divide up more of the TV money.
The article mentions that the expansion fees would probably outstrip the new media deal … especially considering how much teams have been selling for lately.
But the expansion fees are just a one time windfall.
Well that’s before the next renegotiations … with the decrease in RSNs, etc. there’s a lot of data out there that the expansion right fees would outstrip the media fees.
Sanity prevails! A great decision for the sport and anyone who cares about it. Although, that almost certainly wasn’t the reason it was made, and the odds that NBA owners can hold on it has to be low. Still, in Silver’s NBA, any win for the sport should be celebrated.
Expansion is a win. You guys just have garbage mindsets about it
How could further diluting the product be a win? For who? Certainly not any fan (or semi-fan) of the sport of basketball.
The league is more talented now than it has ever been.
But every sport league is more talented now than it has ever been…
That’s like saying the world has the highest population than it has ever had before, it doesn’t go down
Saying you don’t want expansion is saying you want the owners to make more money that’s literally it
What will the owners do with more money? Buy more yachts, but I guess that sounds pretty fun for your money to go to a rich persons life
The Seattle thing is so unfair. It’s not like they were a historically bad franchise at all. If Las Vegas ever get a team before Seattle I would stop caring for the NBA
Seattle deserves a team. I know what theywent through when MLB allowed Fisher to take the A’s away from Oakland. Now A’s are in a small stadium and drawing no fans.
Maybe you should try watching a game? Every one is packed and it only holds 14k fans. Last year they averaged 11k per game in a 60k seat coliseum. Oh and tickets more than doubled in price too. Just saying.
Other than opening night they have not been packed. The other day it was 98 in the shade and empty. They are averaging 9,781 a game. Next year will be worse unless they are a winning team. Most people go to games to see the visiting team. With only 1 big draw left in the red sox they will average under 9000 a game. FYI prices are not double they been discounting tickets to get people to go to games. Last year in Oakland Fisher raised up the prices high. Also Oaklnd only held 35,000 you are thinking raiders that held 60,000.
Oaklands local governance did not want the A’s. It got personal/political, there is no reason they are not playing the next couple of years in Oakland except for politics, it made sense for both the city and team. Las Vegas is a far more lucrative long term market, especially with MLB arbitrators ruling in favor of SF Giants rights to San Jose. Nothing that happens with the A’s attendance in Sacramento is at all important, all that matters is that the new stadium in Las Vegas gets built and the A’s will double or triple in value as soon as it does.
None of that is true. For the last 5 years Fisher was telling A’s fans that they were about to get a new stadium. Oakland spent a lot of money getting enviormental sign offs and applied for federal money. Fisher said he would pay for most of it. When they were waiting for the last sign off to be approved the A’s went silent. They even closed off their update page. 8 months later they announced they were moving to Vegas which left A’s fans stunned. Fisher didn’t want to pay for a stadium and got Veags to give him a stadium. Notice how Fisher been lying to Vegas too about plans and updates. Fisher is a con artist. Don’t count on it getting built.
People always say that the A’s left because there weren’t enough fans in Oakland
The fans werent the problem, they literally boycotted the team and going to games because fisher ran out the lowest payrolls and was actively trying to move the team
Lots of people forget how many people would get packed in the coliseum in the moneyball era when the A’s would win
Owners don’t want expansion b/c it cuts into their profits.
Got it.
It’s curious that there are ever expansions in sports.
Maybe a more built out minor leagues will be the answer in time?
Just did the math. Assuming a $5.5 billion expansion fee, current NBA owners would make slightly more money over this 11 year period by expanding. The exact amount is $200 million per team (total, not per year).
I’m assuming the teams aren’t idiots and have also done this math. The concerns then come down to whether they think that $200 M outweighs other risks and revenue streams like talent dilution, or the fact that they may get less money per team on league wide marketing or merchandise sales, etc…
Dude, get League Pass.
Sorry -was meant as a reply to someone else…
That’s a lot of assumptions that other teams aren’t idiots haha. I’m also in the camp with the decrease in TV revenue, they should probably expand with the two teams in Seattle and LV before their next deal.
Headline: CONCERNED BILLIONAIRES WORRIED THEY MAY NOT MAKE MORE MONEY
the expansion to Las Vegas is on hold until future owner LeBron retires as a player. That may take four or five years
Indeed, he (LBJ)is going to call his team Las Begas Bananas 🍌. Yes, Las Begas with B instead of V. The LeBrons LBBs.
The last thing the league needs is more mediocre teams that are never going to be featured on TV anyway.
dunce
Actually, this is the moment for an entrepreneur who thinks big to start a new league. In the 60s era the viability of the ABL or ABA was dependent on the hopes of securing a national TV contract. Nowadays that would not be the case. Online streaming would give visibility overnight.
Plenty of available markets, plenty of talent churned out by colleges every year.
college alumni league. just like tbt, except a league. teams play at their college arenas, fan bases already established.
Who is paying? No rich alumni support, no TV contract. who is buying tickets to watch players not good enough for the NBA? Why would players not go to Europe and cash 7 figure checks and instead try to start a new league in America?
I wouldn’t really care whether they expand or not, except that the fans in Seattle really deserve a team by now.
they deserve nothing and Ballmer has done nothing better than Sterling to help the Clippers,
And just like that, my dream for a Flint, Michigan NBA team was destroyed.
You’ll always have The Mega Bowl
What Silver doesn’t want to say publicly is that moving existing franchises to Las Vegas and Seattle is very much on the table for the lower tier NBA franchises — Memphis, New Orleans, Charlotte, Minnesota, and Orlando.
Both Las Vegas and Seattle already have the deluxe arenas that would instantly increase these franchises’ annual revenues by $350M. That would also save the other owners from having to subsidize two “have-not” teams every year.
Moving from the low-tier markets to Vegas or Seattle is a fast way to increase a franchise’s valuation by several billion dollars.
I have never been to Seattle, but I have been several times in Vegas, and I doubt that any of these cities have a better arena than the Kia Center in Orlando, not to mention the new Orlando Magic training facility that is one of the best in the country, and perhaps in the NBA.
Rocco, their arenas are indeed better, but the main point is that their markets are much more affluent, so ticket prices are more than double, even triple.
Las Vegas is now the 5th most valuable NFL franchise and the 3rd most valuable NHL franchise.
Look at the price of any ticket in the Kia Center. The same seat in San Francisco, LA, NYC, or Vegas will cost 3x to 5x times as much. And the owner of that ticket will spend 2x as much on food and other amenities.
Next, think about how much a minute of local advertising in Orlando costs. It’s 10x that much in NYC or LA, and 3x that much in Seattle. You get the idea.
The arenas may feel roughly the same, but, per Forbes, the Orlando franchise is worth $3B while the Lakers, Warriors and Knicks are all worth over $10B. If Orlando and other small market teams didn’t get the benefit of TV deals serving the larger audiences in bigger cities, they’d all be worth under $1B.
Ticket prices are almost irrelevant, National TV money matters most and it is not close. Neither Seattle or Las Vegas move the needle all that much in terms of national viewership/larger TV contracts. But I do think there is enough talent to operate 2 new teams without hurting the overall product.
Orlando and Memphis I could see, maybe New Orleans. Don’t see it happening with Minny given the guarantees made by Lowe and A-Roid (not that I trust them completely) and how passionate the fanbase is about keeping the team there. And I don’t think the league would want to sully those new homes by sending a perpetual loser of a franchise in the Hornets to either destination. No one would be excited by that, at least not until they would get their act together.
Shea, good points, I agree with all but one: namely, that sending a bad team to Vegas would result in that team remaining bad.
This is not my opinion, Google and you’ll find a bunch of mentions :—) Vegas is the #1 summer and year-round choice for NBA players seeking a new residence. Even more than LA. The lack of state tax is one reason, but it’s not the main one. Nor is the gaming industry. What stays in Vegas.
The new Vegas NHL team instantly became the preferred free agent destination. link to newyorker.com
The Vegas Raiders aren’t far behind. The Vegas A’s are about to from rags to riches.
The Vegas NBA franchise will instantly become one of the 5-6 richest in the league. The small-market club that goes there will be comfortable in its first season going to second apron to sign all those free agents.
Although the reality is that expansion teams are not going to happen anytime soon, the truth is that the relocation of some teams, for instance, Washington or Memphis, may be possible if their ownership wants to, due to financial issues and lack of support from their respective cities.
Whens the CBA up for renewal? Seems to be the root of all evil.
2029 … they have a dual opt out in 2028 if both the league and players agree.
From David Stern’s days until now places like Seattle are only of value to put a gun to the current small market’s heads to do what they want them to do. Good business yes. Sleazy yes.
But Seattle is a different case because we were lied to in that our arena couldn’t be used for hockey yet here we are with a hockey team in the same made over arena. If it wasn’t for the anti-trust the league has Seattle could sue the league for what it is worth. The answer is for congress to take away the antitrust from a league that operates like the mafia.
All pro sports leagues need to allow some relocation of teams for the league to remain economically viable.
As in any pro league, many small market NBA teams survive only because there is some re-distribution of revenue from the wealthier teams. As the country’s wealth and population shifts westward from states in the South and Midwest, so must some of the teams.
Buffalo to San Diego Clippers, Kansas City to Sacramento Kings, New Orleans to Utah Jazz, etc We see the trend in every sport.
They need to get over themselves
Jerry Reinsdorf is concerned that it will be harder to make it to the play-in games if there are more teams.
Seattle and Montreal …….
I’d rather the league find a pathway to a promotion/relegation model instead. Right now, there’s no consequences for deliberately losing, or not trying to improve.
Okay, so what would change between the near future and less near future that would make them get on board with the idea? Because wouldn’t there always be more revenue to split?
They just want more up front money. Also there isn’t a single quote or reference to a specific owner, so take the article with a grain of salt.
Charlotte, Indiana, New Orleans, Detroit, Sacramento…. am I warm?
No expansion.:::.then let’s shut down OKC and give Seattle a new team. No one in OKC likes basketball over baseball or football anyway. Sooners are more famous than Thunder.
So there won’t be a Mexico City Hombres? Bummer.
No expansion. The NBA should move either the Kings, Grizzlies or Pelicans to Vegas first.