How Much Is The NBA Worth in 2021?
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The NBA is worth a lot of money. In 2021, the league is valued at around $8 billion. That’s a lot of cash, and it’s only going to grow in the future. So, how much is the NBA worth in 2021?
The current value of the NBA
How the NBA generates revenue
In 2020, the NBA generated $9.3 billion in revenue. The league is made up of 30 teams, with each team generating an average of $310 million in revenue per year. The NBA generates revenue through a variety of sources, including television contracts, ticket sales, merchandise sales, and sponsorship deals.
The television contracts are the largest source of revenue for the NBA. In 2014, the NBA signed a nine-year deal with ESPN and Turner Sports that is worth $24 billion. This deal pays the NBA an average of $2.6 billion per year and runs through the 2024-2025 season.
The second largest source of revenue for the NBA is ticket sales. In 2019, the average NBA team generated $103 million in ticket revenue. The Los Angeles Lakers are the highest-grossing team in terms of ticket revenue, generating $171 million in 2019.
Merchandise sales are the third largest source of revenue for the NBA. In 2019, the league generated $542 million in merchandise revenue. The Golden State Warriors are the best-selling team in terms of merchandise sales, generating $78 million in 2019.
Sponsorship deals are the fourth largest source of revenue for the NBA. In 2019, the league signed a multi-year deal with Nike that is worth $1 billion per year. The deal runs through 2023-2024 season and pays Nike an average of $100 million per year to be the official outfitter of the NBA.
The NBA’s most valuable teams
According to Forbes, the average NBA team is now worth $2.12 billion, up 12% from last year. The New York Knicks are once again the most valuable team in the league, worth an estimated $4.6 billion. The Los Angeles Lakers ($4.4 billion) and the Golden State Warriors ($4.3 billion) round out the top three.
The NBA’s future value
The NBA’s global expansion
The NBA is expanding its global reach with plans to open offices in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The league has also been aggressively expanding its digital presence, streaming games live on its website and partnering with social media giants like Facebook and Twitter. All of this expansion is aimed at growing the NBA’s fan base and increasing its value.
According to Forbes, the NBA is currently worth $7.4 billion. But with its growing popularity around the world, that number is expected to rise in the coming years. In fact, some experts believe the NBA could be worth as much as $10 billion by 2021.
To put that into perspective, that would make the NBA more valuable than Major League Baseball ($9 billion) and almost twice as valuable as the National Football League ($6 billion). It would also make the NBA one of the most valuable sports leagues in the world, behind only the English Premier League ($14 billion) and ahead of both La Liga ($4.48 billion) and the Bundesliga ($4.43 billion).
So how did the NBA achieve this level of success? And what does the future hold for the league? Let’s take a look.
The NBA’s new TV deal
In October 2014, the NBA signed a nine-year, $24 billion television deal with ESPN and Turner Sports, which began with the 2016–17 season. The previous television deal, which was signed in 2007 and ran through the 2015–16 season, was worth $930 million annually. The new TV deal is nearly triple that amount, and it runs through the 2024–25 season.
In addition to the increased value of the TV deal, the NBA has also seen values increase for its franchises. In 2014, Forbes valued the average NBA franchise at $634 million. By 2017, that number had increased to $1.36 billion. And by 2021, Forbes estimates that the average NBA franchise will be worth $2.12 billion.
The increase in franchise values can be attributed to a number of factors. The NBA has seen strong growth in revenue in recent years, as well as expansion into new markets. In addition, the league has done a good job of cultivating its global brand and growing its fan base outside the United States.
With the NBA’s new TV deal and continued expansion into new markets, it’s likely that franchise values will continue to increase in the coming years.