SEATTLE SPORTS PIT

Expansion time? NBA agrees on media rights deal, AP source says

Jul 10, 2024, 3:42 PM | Updated: Jul 24, 2024, 2:16 pm

The NBA has agreed to terms on its new media deal, an 11-year agreement worth $76 billion that could clear the way for a potential Seattle expansion team, assures player salaries will continue rising for the foreseeable future and will surely change how some viewers access the game for years to come.

Key domino for a Seattle NBA expansion team falling with Celtics for sale?

A person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press that the networks have the terms sheets, with the next step being for the league’s board of governors to approve the contracts.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Wednesday because they weren’t at liberty to discuss such impending matters.

The deal, which set NBA records for both its length and total value, goes into effect for the 2025-26 season. Games will continue being aired on ESPN and ABC, and now some will be going to NBC and Amazon Prime. TNT Sports, which has been part of the league’s broadcasting family since the 1980s, could be on its way out, but has five days to match one of the deals.

The five-day clock would begin once the league sends the finished contracts to TNT.

The Athletic was the first to report on the contracts.

The deal means attention could turn to the next major item on the to-do list for the NBA: Expansion.

Commissioner Adam Silver was very clear on the order of his top agenda items in recent seasons, those being preserving labor peace (which was achieved with the new CBA), getting a new media deal (now essentially completed) and then and only then would the league turn its attention toward adding new franchises. Las Vegas and Seattle are typically among the cities most prominently mentioned as top expansion candidates, with others such as Montreal, Vancouver and Kansas City expected to have groups with interest as well.

In the short term, the deal almost certainly means the league’s salary cap will rise 10% annually — the maximum allowed by the terms of the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NBA and its players. That means players like Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dallas’ Luka Doncic could be making around $80 million in the 2030-31 season and raises at least some possibility that top players may be earning somewhere near $100 million per season by the mid-2030s.

As the broadcast rights packages have grown in total value over the last 25 years, so, too, have salaries because of how much that revenue stream ends up fueling the salary cap.

When NBC and Turner agreed to a $2.6 billion, four-year deal that started with the 1998-99 season, the salary cap was $30 million per team and the average salary was around $2.5 million. The average salary this season exceeded $10 million per player — and it’s only going to keep going up from here.

When that NBC-Turner deal that started a quarter-century ago expired, the next deal — covering six seasons — cost ABC, ESPN and Turner about $4.6 billion. The next was a seven-year deal, costing those networks $7.4 billion.

The current deal, the one that will expire next season, smashed those records — nine years, nearly $24 billion.

And now, that seems like pocket change.

From the deal that started in 1998-99 to the one now struck to begin in 2025, the total value has climbed by about 2,800%. Factoring for inflation even between then and now, the value goes up about 1,400%.

This post includes alterations by Seattle Sports staff.

NBA Draft: WSU Cougars, Gonzaga players selected in second round

Seattle Sports Pit

Former UW Huskies guard Nate Robinson...

Zac Hereth

Ex-UW Huskies star Nate Robinson is getting a new kidney

The Seattle native and UW Huskies legend has been undergoing treatment for renal kidney failure since 2018.

6 days ago

Hubie Brown NBA...

Brian Mahoney

Longtime NBA analyst Hubie Brown calls his final game at 91

Hubie Brown will work ABC’s telecast Sunday of Philadelphia at Milwaukee, where Brown got his first NBA opportunity as an assistant coach.

6 days ago

NBA trade Seattle MarJon Beauchamp...

Brent Stecker

NBA Trade: 2 former Seattle HS rivals swapped for each other

MarJon Beauchamp and Kevin Porter Jr., both former Seattle high school hoops stars, were dealt for each other in an NBA trade.

7 days ago

Zach LaVine Seattle Sacramento Kings trade...

The Associated Press

Zach LaVine joins fellow Seattle native Doug Christie’s Sacramento Kings

The trade of Zach LaVine from the Chicago Bulls to the Sacramento Kings means he's now with a coach who's also from Seattle.

8 days ago

Zach LaVine NBA trade blockbuster...

Tim Reynolds

Seattle area native Zach LaVine dealt in NBA blockbuster trade

Bothell High alum Zach Lavine was part of a huge NBA trade centered around De'Aaron Fox that also included Gonzaga product Zach Collins.

11 days ago

Seattle Sonics Kevin Durant Gary Payton...

Zac Hereth

Kevin Durant roasts Sonics legend Gary Payton in courtside exchange

The two former Seattle Sonics stars traded playful barbs when Kevin Durant's Phoenix Suns played the Golden State Warriors on Friday.

12 days ago

Expansion time? NBA agrees on media rights deal, AP source says