The NBA’s current TV broadcasting contract expires in 2024, but the association is already preparing to sign their next deal, set to start in 2025. Their current broadcasting contract started in 2016 and is reportedly worth a total of $24 billion. Now, the NBA is looking at a deal valued in the $75 billion range, via CNBC. That’s insane.
A larger streaming deal means more income, leading to a larger salary cap. The last time the NBA negotiated a new broadcasting contract in 2014, the league’s salary cap rose by $24 million from 2015 to 2016.
Currently, the cap is at $112.4 million. Though if the Association agrees to a new $75 billion deal, some suggest the salary could rise to $175 million within a few years. As crazy as it sounds, that would mean the NBA has more than doubled their cap since just 2015.
Could new NBA broadcasting deal lead to a $500 million contract?
This time around, with an even bigger jump in contract value, the salary should spike even more. Individual player contract values have already gone north of $200. Heck, Stephen Curry has signed two deals valued over $200 million.
With the dough the NBA will be raking in, could an NBA superstar sign a $500 million contract as the NFL’s Patrick Mahomes did in July of 2020?
Probably not yet. But $300 million contracts are definitely on the radar.
With the salary cap shrinking the past two seasons due to reduced revenue from the pandemic, a big boost via a new broadcasting deal would be a quick way to send salaries to the moon. Who knows what else that could mean for the future of basketball.