The NBA's first "Mr. $300 million" won the championship, and the 76 billion contract entered the golden era

Sports Economic Observation

2024-06-19 17:11Posted in Beijing Sports Creators

Author: Moon and a half

Number of words: 3319 words

Suggested reading time: 10 minutes

The NBA's first "Mr. $300 million" won the championship, and the 76 billion contract entered the golden era

In the final two minutes of G5 of the Finals, Celtics head coach Mazzulla replaced Tatum, Brown and Horford successively, allowing them to take turns enjoying the cheers of the fans at TD North Shore Garden.

The Celtics didn't make it back to Dallas in the Finals, winning 4-1 over the Mavericks to win their 18th O'Brien Cup in franchise history. The new trophy also allows the Green Shirts to surpass the "old enemy" Lakers and enjoy the first place in the history of the league.

"Mr. 200 Million" Doncic finally lost to the NBA's first "Mr. 300 Million" Jaylen Brown, who was crowned FMVP with his excellent performance in the series. In this "100 million yuan player" showdown, Brown had the last laugh.

Fans also spent a lot of money to witness this classic moment in NBA history. According to the ticketing website TickPick, the average ticket price for the fifth game at TD North Shore Garden Arena is as high as US$2,213 (about 16,000 yuan), and the lowest level of tickets is also US$1,715 (about 12,000 yuan). With an average ticket price of $2,213, it also set a new record for ticket prices for a sporting event hosted by the city of Boston.

The reason why fans are so enthusiastic is that although Boston is known as a "sports city" and has teams from the four major leagues in North America, it was back in 2008 when the city's NBA team last won the championship, when the "Big Three" of Pierce, Garnett and Ray Allen defeated Kobe's Lakers. Witnessing the team at the top of the NBA for the first time in 16 years has undoubtedly rekindled the enthusiasm of Boston fans.

The enthusiasm and dedication of the fans have made the NBA "full of money". The 2023/24 NBA season has come to an end, which also means that the countdown to the new season has begun. The focus of the new season is undoubtedly how the two major NBA broadcasters can make good use of the last year of contract rights and play to the residual heat. In 2014, the NBA agreed a nine-year, $24 billion broadcast contract with ESPN and TNT.

And the number of new NBA broadcast contracts will be three times that of this one. According to a previous report by the Wall Street Journal, ESPN, NBC and Amazon will join forces to win the NBA broadcast rights contract for the new cycle - this 11-year contract with a total value of up to $76 billion.

With the NBA's revenues set to reach a higher stage, the 2024/25 season could be a watershed moment for the NBA. Can Celtic, who won 18 titles in team history, start a new dynasty? The Green Shirts have created a perfect ending to the season, while also laying the ground for a new season to start in about four months.

6 teams won the championship in 6 years, and the Celtics started a new dynasty?

The NBA championships in the past six seasons have been divided between the Raptors, Lakers, Bucks, Warriors, Nuggets and Celtics.

There are two meanings behind the six teams winning the championship in the past six years. First, the NBA has entered an era of competition in the past six years. No other team has made it to the Finals five years in a row and won three of those titles like the Warriors before them.

Behind this, of course, has something to do with the introduction of the Super Luxury Tax in the 2015-16 season. No owner is willing to pay more in taxes but not win a championship, so this season's Warriors have also stalled in the offseason with Thompson after paying a $188.2 million luxury tax, who wants a higher contract but the team is not willing to pay more.

But the Celtics in the 2023/24 season "only" need to pay $41.4 million in luxury tax, which ranks fifth in the league. It's also a reflection of the Celtics' healthier and more consistent approach to building a team under the control of Stevens, president of basketball operations.

Another implication behind the six-team championship in six years is that this championship trophy, which has been lost for 16 years, has the potential to allow the Celtics to start a new dynastic era. You can refer to the growth of the Warriors dynasty, and by looking at the team structure, you can see that the two are very similar.

This "team building formula" can basically be summarized as - young head coach + team training for the growth of newcomers + precise reinforcement. After leading the team to the championship, the 36-year-old Mazzulla surpassed Pat Riley (37 years old) to become the youngest NBA championship coach.

If it is strictly said that Kerr's success is a flash in the pan of young coaches, then Mazzulla's success once again confirms that age is not a coach's shortcoming, how to instill the coaching system in the players, and how to adjust the atmosphere in the locker room is the key.

As for Brown and Tatum, they were the two picks that the Celtics picked in the 2016 and 2017 drafts, respectively. Focusing on the cultivation of these two cores, the Celtics gave enough space and time to grow, and in the end, the "Double Tanhua" combination did not live up to the cultivation of the team.

On the basis of having a stable structure, Stevens got Porzingis by trading away Smart, who was also the "smart guy" selected in the draft. In addition, the team also paid Lowe, Brogdon, and two first-round picks in exchange for Holiday to complete the final piece of the puzzle for the team to challenge for a championship. Of course, Stevens' predecessor, Angie, shouldn't be forgotten in exchange for Kemba Walker for interior core Horford.

It can be seen that the Celtics' team-building model is relatively healthy and benign. There was no blind reinforcement, no huge salary, no abandonment of training, and the unhesitating ALL IN trade in the face of the championship puzzle that appeared, all of which combined to help the Celtics regain the championship after a 16-year absence.

This championship not only broke the wall in the hearts of the Celtics and the outside world, but also allowed Celtics owner Vic Grossbeck to be happier and more willing to pay the luxury tax. Because in the 2024/25 season, Brown's five-year, $304 million contract extension with the team this year will officially take effect. This will undoubtedly reduce the team's salary space and increase the team's spending on the luxury tax.

However, with the title in hand, paying some more luxury tax is not a big problem for the Celtics.

NBA league and team sponsorship revenues hit new highs

In terms of sponsorship income, the NBA and its teams also earn "a lot of money". This season, the NBA has also sold a big contract to the referees.

In February 2024, the NBA partnered with Emirates, which became the first title partner of the NBA's mid-season tournament and the NBA's first referee jersey labeling partner. During next season's Emirates NBA Cup semi-finals and championship games, Emirates will be allowed to set up signage on the field. According to foreign media reports, this deal will bring $500 million in advertising revenue to the NBA every year.

In fact, last season the NBA has already refreshed sponsorship revenue. According to several American sports business media reports, the NBA's sponsorship revenue in the 2022-2023 season reached $1.66 billion, a record high. It is foreseeable that the NBA has reached a blockbuster cooperation with "Tuhao Airlines", and this season's sponsorship income may usher in another jump.

In terms of team revenue, thanks to the newly created mid-season championship and the growth of new stars in the league, several teams have multiple sponsorship contracts. According to a report by SponsorUnited, NBA teams grew 7% in sponsorship revenue in the 2023-24 season to a record $1.5 billion. Among them, alcohol brands had the largest number of sponsorships, with 290, but financial services brands spent the most on sponsorships, at $247 million.

Among the top 10 sponsored brand categories, technology brands ranked second with a 26% increase, while automotive brands led with a 32% increase. The most active brands sponsoring teams are also NBA sponsors – Tissot, Michelob Ultra, State Farm, Ticketmaster and Gatorade, each of which has partnerships with at least 80% of NBA clubs.

In terms of player sponsorships, SponsorUnited noted that Grady Dick, Jalen Brunson, Osar Thompson and Amen Thompson were the players with the most endorsement contracts in the past year, with each player signing at least six contracts.

At $76 billion in 11 years, the dust has settled on the NBA superbroadcast rights

For the NBA, whether the Mavericks win the championship or the Celtics win the championship this season, it is "acceptable" for them.

Why? The reason is that the Mavericks have two of the best singles stars in the league today - Doncic and Irving - have proven their flowing style and smart mind more than once. The Celtics are the league's veteran giants and one of the founding fathers of the NBA, in Boston, a sports city, and the United States, a country with a strong sports atmosphere, I believe that no one will not want to see the beautiful story of the revival of the giants.

Then the game becomes good-looking, which is the biggest basis for the NBA ratings guarantee. The direct benefit of ratings is in the 11-year, $76 billion sky-high broadcast contracts signed by the NBA with Amazon, NBC and ESPN.

Depending on the budget and needs, the NBA offers different types of rights packages for these three. According to a number of U.S. media reports, ESPN pays $2.8 billion a year to win the NBA Finals, Division Finals, weekly primetime games, and shared international broadcast rights in the WNBA and the future. Comcast's NBC paid $2.5 billion to $2.6 billion for two primetime games per week, as well as division semifinals and division finals, as well as the rights to create an NBA version of "Sunday Night Game" modeled after the NFL; Amazon, the new streaming giant, is expected to pay between $1.8 billion and $2 billion, with a package that includes mid-season, play-offs, first-round playoffs, and WNBA and international broadcasting rights.

But for those fans of TNT's ace show "Inside the NBA," next season will also be their last season to see the show. At this year's Finals, Barkley announced that next season would be his last season as a TV commentator. In other words, in the case that the NBA has not officially announced that TNT is out, Barkley confirms this statement from the side.

While this is a bit short of the $75 billion over 10 years that Xiao Hua had expected, it can triple his previous broadcast contract and prove the value of the NBA in the sports market. In particular, the partnership with streaming giant Amazon may help the NBA enter a wider market and further enhance the influence of the game.

Previously, the NBA had not reached a long-term streaming partnership with a top internet platform. U.S. media sources pointed out that in addition to Amazon, Apple also intended to join the NBA copyright battle. Whether it's Amazon or Apple, you can see that the NBA is "embracing" the digital age and "chasing" young users.

The 2024/25 season will be a contract year for NBA broadcast rights. But unlike players who need to play well in contract years, the NBA has helped itself win the next cycle of "super contracts" through these years of "consistent performance".

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