In the modern era, money drives sport and anyone who thinks otherwise is probably caught living in the past, pining for a simpler time. There is a huge amount of money being pumped into the top sports by the TV firms that want to show the games. The money comes from subscribers looking to watch the games and/or the companies and agencies that are looking to advertise their wares to these fans. Being in the place where fans are watching and where the top athletes of our time can be watched is essential for many firms and this means that media rights for the biggest sporting events and leagues is a massive affair.
This is very much the case with the NBA at the moment and the league is coming very close to announce renegotiated contracts with ESPN and TNT. Many industry insiders and experts have cited that a new deal will be worth up to $2billion every single year. There isn’t total agreement about when the contract will be officially signed or how much the deal will be worth but there appears to be enough consensus about this figure to think that there is a great deal of truth in it.
Will all the players receive a salary benefit?
The franchise owners will be delighted about such a jump in the money that comes in from TV, but there will of course need to be a trickle-down effect of this cash. Any agent worth their salt will be working hard to negotiate a better deal for their player and there is even talk that the salary cap in the NBA will be raised to ensure that the top players are properly paid for their work and effort. The players at the bottom of the rung shouldn’t get too excited by this sort of talk, but there are definitely concrete plans to raise the salary cap. Then again, even the players at the bottom of the rung are likely to benefit from a trickle-down effect so everyone is likely to benefit in some way.
| # | Player | position | Team | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kobe Bryant | SG | Los Angeles Lakers | $23,500,000 |
| 2 | Amar’e Stoudemire | PF | New York Knicks | $23,410,988 |
| 3 | Joe Johnson | SG | Brooklyn Nets | $23,180,790 |
| 4 | Carmelo Anthony | SF | New York Knicks | $22,458,401 |
| 5 | Dwight Howard | C | Houston Rockets | $21,436,271 |
| 6 | Chris Bosh | C | Miami Heat | $20,644,400 |
| 7 | LeBron James | SF | Cleveland Cavaliers | $20,644,400 |
| 8 | Chris Paul | PG | Los Angeles Clippers | $20,068,563 |
| 9 | Deron Williams | PG | Brooklyn Nets | $19,754,465 |
| 10 | Rudy Gay | SF | Sacramento Kings | $19,317,326 |
Big changes in salary cap coming up
The salary cap in the NBA currently stands at $63m and it is believed that the cap will move on to $66m and then jump to somewhere in the region of $77m to $80m for the 2016-17 season. This is going to be something that the top players will receive. Mind you, the fact that there is talk of a maximum salary limit being imposed as well, things may not be too exciting for the top players, who will have to get by on a massive club wage and all of their endorsements. It is a tough life being an NBA superstar but some teams have to do it.
Of course, not every team is equal and those franchises with deep pockets will benefit from the change in salary cap more than the lesser lights of the NBA. You can bet that teams like the Chicago Bulls, the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers will be watching with great interest. Then again, given that the TV deal figure is expected to more than double in the new agreement, every team should be able to feel some benefit from the new deal.
It seems as though this is an excellent time for the NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who is on a roll at the moment. Things don’t always run smoothly in the NBA but when they do, the man at the top is well regarded and well compensated for his work. This massive TV deal will no doubt make a lot of executives rather happy, so there should be financial benefits and incentives for everyone.
At 3-1 down in the NBA Finals, many people predicted that the Cleveland Cavaliers would lie down, perhaps looking for the pain to be over and done with for another year. After all, they were facing the record breakers, the team that had shown themselves to be the best of the best by a good...