James Dolan isn’t joyful in regards to the NBA’s new income sharing plan and is letting his dissatisfaction be recognized.
In a letter shared with the league’s Board of Governors, the Knicks’ proprietor was crucial of a brand new $74.6 billion media deal that he says makes Regional Sports activities Networks “unviable,” and penalizes franchises just like the Knicks that usher in essentially the most income and rewards others that don’t.
“The NBA has made the transfer to an NFL mannequin — deemphasizing and depowering the native market,” Dolan wrote within the letter that was obtained by ESPN. “Quickly, your solely income concern would be the sale of tickets and what shade subsequent yr’s jersey might be. Don’t fear, as a result of as a consequence of income pooling, you might be assured to be neither a hit nor a failure.
“In fact, to get there, the league should take down the profitable franchises and redistribute to the much less profitable. This new media deal goes an extended approach to engaging in that objective.”
Dolan was additionally sad with the concept the NBA will retain eight % of the media deal with out “enough justification” for that proportion or transparency into the way it got here to that determine.
By comparability, he identified that the league is barely retaining 0.5 % within the present media deal for 2024-25.
The brand new deal, which incorporates platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Peacock and NBC together with ESPN and ABC, will make video games out there on a streaming service or native channel seven days every week.
Which means fewer video games for Regional Sports activities Networks like MSG, which televises a majority of the Knicks’ video games.
This isn’t essentially new for Dolan, who has expressed his displeasure with income sharing fashions up to now.
Final November, he resigned his positions on the league’s influential advisory/finance and media committees.
“The elevated variety of unique and non-exclusive video games signifies that nationwide companions would have the flexibility to air practically half of the common season and all postseason video games. This discount in out there video games for RSNs dangers rendering the whole RSN mannequin unviable,” he wrote. “The inclusion of streaming companions within the proposal permits followers in all NBA markets to bypass their RSN to observe sure video games of their native market. The proposal gives no native protections for RSNs.”
Dolan believes different homeowners agree with him, at the very least these in an analogous place to him.
“As soon as once more, delight of possession is what’s sacrificed,” he wrote. “We’re nicely on our approach to changing into a one measurement matches all, characterless group. Simply keep in mind we did this on the backs of homeowners like Jerry Buss.”
