Adam Silver on NBA expansion and global growth of the game

Though NBA expansion was not one of the deeply explored topics during the board of governors meetings last week in New York, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that at some point this season, those discussions will begin.

“It was something that we told our board we plan to address this season,” Silver said. “We’re not quite ready yet. But, I think there’s certainly interest in the process, and I think that we’re not there yet in terms of having made any specific decisions. … I think over time organizations should grow. It is appropriate.

“But it gets a bit complicated in terms of selling equity in the league, what that means for the existing television relationships, et cetera. What we’ve told interested parties is thank you for your interest, we’ll be back to you.”

Silver had previously said that expansion discussions would have to come following a new CBA and new media rights deal. Now that those two things have been checked off the list, discussing what an expansion for the NBA could look like will be part of what NBA owners dive into this year.

And speaking of the new TV deal …

Future of NBA media

The league’s new media deal, which includes agreements with ESPN, NBC and Amazon (not TNT) has a lot of people wondering what the addition of a third platform and more streaming options could mean for the future of regional sports networks (RSNs).

New York Knicks owner James Dolan, who has long been a critic of the league’s revenue sharing and budgetary practices, has written multiple letters to the board of governors, complaining about the new deal.

In response to a question last week about Dolan’s concerns and whether the new TV deal would make RSNs obsolete, Silver didn’t sugarcoat things, noting that RSNs were failing long before the NBA decided to bring in a third broadcast partner.

“Prior to us completing our national deals … I think 18 of our RSNs were either defunct or in bankruptcy,” Silver said. “If you look back, sort of just graph it over the last few years in terms of both decline in number of homes covered by those RSNs and decline in revenue, that is the reality of what’s happening right now in that aspect of our business, and it’s something we’re paying a lot of attention to.”

Silver also noted that the board spoke extensively about all of the new media deal concerns and that the NBA is in a phase of transition along with the fans. The demand for games on streaming services is higher than it’s ever been and wired cable is not a prevalent or in demand as it once was, which means that there is going to be a loss of money and some adapting that needs to happen in order to serve the fans.

Gambling

Ten years ago, Silver became the first of the major sports commissioners to publicly say he was in favor of legal sports betting. Last week he was asked if his views have changed or grown in the last decade.

Before elaborating, Silver said that it is necessary for his opinions and views to change somewhat as more information and data becomes available, but he still believes that legal gambling is a net positive.

“One thing I haven’t changed my view on but I’m trying to be a realist about is that … I was in favor of a federal framework for sports betting. I still am,” Silver said. “I still think that the hodgepodge of state by state, it makes it more difficult for the league to administer it. I think it creates competition, understandably, among states to get — just think New York, New Jersey or a situation like that where you’re both competing for the same customer so you can compete on tax rates and other things and a regulatory framework.”

Silver said that the league is constantly analyzing ways to keep gambling safe and secure and eluded to last season’s lifetime ban of player Jontay Murray for his involvement in gambling schemes.

“Certainly our league has not been immune from issues,” Silver said. “I think we learned from those, as well. Are there better ways, both us working with our partners and monitoring services to catch aberrant behavior earlier? But again, I think the way we can best protect ourselves is through more transparency, more information, more data.”

Global growth

The board of governors spoke at length about the success of the Paris Olympics, where more than 140 NBA and WNBA players competed with Team USA taking home the gold. Those discussions also branched out into continued global growth of the game and what opportunities exist in that realm.

FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis attended the board of governors meetings and even presented to the board with information on the history of the relationship between the federation and the NBA and where there could be opportunities for even more involvement in the future.

As far as specifics go, nothing has been decided, but it seems that anything is on the table, especially when it comes to Europe.

“There is no specific plan right now about Europe, other than we’re agreeing intensively to look at the opportunity,” Silver said. “I think right now, we’re trying to work through it looking at all these new media platforms — obviously the advent of streaming, not just as a platform but as a destination for premium sports.

“How much interest there would be in us potentially doing something together. And also, how we would come in, in the most friendly manner, with the existing ecosystem of regional tournaments, pan-European and country leagues.”