Adam Silver defends new media rights deal and discusses NBA and European expansion at Board of Governors meeting

NEW YORK — New York Knicks owner James Dolan has protested NBA actions several times over the past year, including opposing the NBA’s new media rights deal, arguing that the league has devalued and de-emphasized local media contracts.

The Knicks, whose games are broadcast on MSG Networks – both owned and operated by Dolan – would likely be one of the teams to suffer most under the new media deal in this regard, as the number of games broadcast exclusively nationwide is set to increase from 12 to 15.

Dolan wrote in a letter to the League before the Board of Governors meeting in July, signed by The athletewrote that the new media deal, worth about $75 billion over 11 years, “threatens the complete elimination of the RSNs without the league offering a comparable replacement and without concrete plans to address the production and distribution vacuum that the league will inevitably create in its quest to further disrupt the RSN industry.”

Commissioner Adam Silver said the NBA Board of Directors discussed the issue in detail during its last meeting on Tuesday.

While acknowledging that the new media deal will impact local media contracts, Silver defended the new media rights deal and how it would add value to the league during a difficult time for the local RSN industry and NBA teams overall. Diamond Sports promised the NBA last month that it would be active through the upcoming 2024-25 season and broadcast the games of the 13 teams it has contracts with, though Silver admitted Tuesday that those teams were demanding “significantly lower fees” this season to ensure that.

However, Diamond Sports also terminated contracts with the New Orleans Pelicans and the Dallas Mavericks, who switched to terrestrial channels and a streaming component.

“On the other hand, I think 18 of our RSNs were either no longer active or in bankruptcy before we closed our national deals,” Silver said. “So when you look back and graph the last few years, both the decline in the number of households covered by those RSNs and the decline in revenue, that’s the reality in that aspect of our business, and that’s something we pay close attention to.”

Silver said the NBA will be looking at the situation regarding its teams’ local broadcasts over the next six months and expressed confidence that a response will be found that will put the NBA in a better position than it is now.

“I think we’re going to come out in a very good place,” Silver said. “I think we’re going to have a little bit of a bumpy transition ahead of us.”

He added: “I think we’re having this dip. That’s just a fact, that’s where we are. But I think when you come out of this, you’ll see that there’s no reason why that shouldn’t translate to a local level, just like these new media deals we’ve done have shown the tremendous interest in NBA and WNBA programming nationally and globally.”

Will the NBA start a league or tournament in Europe?

FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis addressed the NBA Board of Directors on Tuesday as the league continues to explore its potential options in European basketball. Silver said last month that the NBA was considering whether to try to launch a league or tournament across the continent, but was not yet sure exactly what that would look like or when.

“There is currently no concrete plan for Europe, other than that we have agreed to explore the possibility intensively,” Silver said on Tuesday.

According to a league source, the NBA is considering several options. One would be a league that would feature current European basketball teams and could also include investment from the Gulf states. The NBA is working with a financial firm, the Raine Group, to explore its options.

The NBA could benefit from the statements of European basketball managers. The athlete The last month has been a time of uncertainty in basketball on the continent, with even some of Europe’s top teams expressing discontent over their lackluster financial situation.

“Nobody was waiting for the NBA to enter, but at this point there is a certain need to structure the markets and competitions in a certain way,” said a president of a EuroLeague team The athlete“There is a brand that has proven it can do this.”

Silver said Tuesday that the league needs to figure out how to enter that region without impacting existing infrastructure, and it is working with FIBA ​​to learn more about that area and incorporate it into the possible new league.

“Our current interest in basketball is disproportionate to the level of commercial activity,” Silver said. He added: “The way we all see it, it’s not just a basketball opportunity. We’ve been in this situation before in our league: If you can’t prove to the market that you can’t run a successful business, it’s not sustainable.”

Expansion options?

Silver said the NBA has not yet established a committee to consider expansion and there was not much discussion about it at Tuesday’s BOG meeting. The league, he said, is not yet ready to decide whether it will expand, let alone into which markets. He believes that process will be addressed later this season.

“It will be a bit complicated when it comes to selling shares in the league,” he warned. “What that means for the existing television relationships, etc. We have said to those interested: ‘Thank you for your interest, we will get back to you.'”

Silver had no update on the sale and arbitration of the Minnesota Timberwolves or the sale of the Boston Celtics. As for the Timberwolves, Silver said their dispute resolution exists “independently of the league.”

Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck outlined a sale process for the franchise that would involve a phased transaction in which the franchise would be sold in pieces and he could retain control of the franchise for years before the new ownership group takes it over. Silver had signaled his aversion to phased transactions after the league settled its dispute with the Timberwolves.

“As far as the composition of ownership and potential phased transactions, what we’ve told you tells us what you’re considering and we’ll look at it one at a time,” Silver said. “I think each of these situations presents itself differently. It remains what I’ve said philosophically about phased transactions, but the devil is in the details here.”

Review of replays outside the game boundaries

The NBA Board of Governors approved the use of instant replay to review on-court violations this season. If a coach’s admission leads to a review of an on-court violation, referees and the league’s replay center can now decide whether a foul “proximate to the violation” should have been called, the NBA said.

Necessary

(Photo: Roy Rochlin / Getty Images for Fanatics)