National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association was founded in 1949 when two rival organizations merged to form one league. Those two rival organizations consisted of The National Basketball League founded in 1937 and the Basketball Association of America in 1946. Although the NBA came into existence much later than the other three major North American sports leagues such as Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL) and the National Hockey League (NHL), the NBA spent its early years trying to catch up to the other professional sports leagues with their earnings and popularity. However, nearly a century later, the NBA has become one of the biggest and most popular sports leagues in the world. It has become so popular in North America that it has surpassed MLB, as the second-most popular sport. The NBA earnings have also reflected this rise to fame that the league has had. According to Forbes, the total revenue reached $8.76 billion in the 2018-2019 season, and each team is worth at least $1 billion, with the average worth being $2.12 billion. What makes the NBA special is its large variety of sources of income.

Television contracts play a key part in the NBA’s revenue stream, as is the case for all major sports leagues across the world. Since the games can be viewed on TV, free of cost, besides the cost of one’s cable provider, it is a very appealing option for anyone trying to watch. Not to mention that in the 2016-2017 season, the NBA revamped their contracts with TNT and ESPN, to an estimated $24 billion over the span of 9 years. That $24 billion in addition to local packages that each team negotiates on their own (In Canada, the Toronto Raptors get additional revenue from Sportsnet and TSN) are put into a shared pool where all teams share in the league wide revenue.

Possibly the highest revenue-generating aspect of the NBA is its merchandise and sponsorships. One thing the NBA has done that other leagues have not been able to do to the same extent, is advertising their superstars. The NBA has taken stars such as Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Steph Curry and has turned them into profitable assets that have everyone wanting their shoes, jerseys, and anything that has been marketed by these superstars. They’ve turned these athletes into celebrities and made them the face of the NBA which has put the league into the global market. One of the most popular shoes for the last decade has been the Air Jordan, along with Jordan’s clothing line, and his Jerseys, all of which are under the NBA’s massive deal with Nike. This does not include all the other stars, generally at least one star from each team, that have signed immense contracts with companies such as Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, etc. With the NBA reaching a global scale, the league's sponsorships have skyrocketed, from sponsors for teams, players, and even the arenas.

The final large contributor to the NBA’s revenue is their ticket sales. Even though the NBA’s ticket sales still fall behind many of the other sports leagues, it doesn’t mean that the ticket sales aren’t a big part of the league’s revenue. According to ESPN, in the 2023 season, home games averaged between 15,00020,000 fans, with ticket prices constantly changing but generally staying within $75 - $200.

The NBA was in its infancy stage as a sports league, not a half century ago, but as of late, with the development of stars along with brilliant marketing, the NBA has caught up and in some cases, exceeded the long-time sports leagues such as the MLB and NHL (The NFL is still the flag bearer when it comes to TV deals). With the game changing rapidly along with the culture, the future of the league is on solid ground and one would assume that the future is very bright for the NBA.