The NBA is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, as it attracts a larger audience of fans within the USA and internationally. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the NBA seems to keep having record years in terms of profit.
The league recently decided to open up a $24.5 million fund to pay former ABA players a fixed amount every year that is commensurate with the years they spent in the league. This is to reward the innovators of the game that cannot enjoy the financial benefits of its popularity like the modern-day players.
The NBA recently announced that their annual revenue for the 2021-22 season topped $10 billion and that they made $8.9 billion from basketball income alone.
Per @AP, the NBA's annual revenue topped $10 billion for the first time ever — with basketball-related income also reaching a record $8.9 billion. pic.twitter.com/LUegkyo9Mm
— Boardroom (@boardroom) July 14, 2022
The NBA is coming off a massive financial year, with revenue topping $10 billion for the first time and basketball-related income reaching $8.9 billion, another record. Silver said the numbers are particularly strong considering the league is still dealing with a pandemic, and it wasn’t that long ago when some questioned whether sports could survive the coronavirus — at least in the sense of whether people would want to gather again.
“The numbers did surprise me to a certain degree because it exceeded projections, and the projections represent where we think our business is going,” Silver said. “I think it’s quite remarkable from where we came 2 1/2 years ago.” (h/t AP)
This is great for the league and its players as we head toward the next collective bargaining agreement negotiations. The more money that the league and teams make, the more money players end up making.
We have seen some very lavish contract extensions signed this offseason with the likes of Bradley Beal, Damian Lillard, Nikola Jokic, and others signing big-ticket extensions. These salaries are going to get even more out of hand as the league continues growing in the future.
