Founded in 1949, the National Basketball Association (NBA) has experienced staggering growth in recent years. Not only has it become one of the most high-profile sports leagues in the world, but it is also a financial behemoth. In the past 20 years alone, the
went from 265 million U.S. dollars to 4.42 billion U.S. dollars. Meanwhile,
totaled 11.34 billion U.S. dollars in the 2023/24 season.
How does the NBA make money?
One of the main income streams for NBA franchises is gate receipts. While the
share of total league revenue from gate receipts in the NBA has been on a general decline since 2010, ticketing revenue continues to be a vital source of income for teams in the league, accounting for over a fifth of overall revenue in 2023/24. Another large source of income for the NBA is
sponsorship revenue, which regularly makes up over 10 percent of overall league revenue per season. Meanwhile, the
value of the NBA’s broadcast rights deal was estimated at 24 billion U.S. dollars between 2016/17 and 2024/25, which worked out at three billion U.S. dollars a season. This is set to rise substantially in the coming years, with the NBA completing a new media rights deal with Disney, NBC, and Amazon in July 2024, which will run until 2036/37 and is valued at 76 billion U.S. dollars.
Which NBA team has won the most championships?
With their victory over the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 Finals, the Boston Celtics broke the record for the
most NBA championship title wins, with 18. This marked the first championship win for the Celtics since 2008. In the Celtics’ history, the most successful period came during the 1960s, when they won a championship every year except in 1967. Perhaps this lack of recent and sustained success goes some way in explaining why the Celtics did not rank as the
most popular team among NBA fans as of September 2024, despite having the most silverware; the top three most popular franchises were the LA Lakers, the Chicago Bulls, and the Golden State Warriors respectively, all of which have had periods of dominance in the league since the 1990s.
Who is the greatest NBA player of all time?
Any discussion of the league’s greatest all-time player would be remiss not to include LeBron James. As the
NBA’s all-time top point scorer and one of the
all-time assist leaders in the NBA, the four-time champion has had a career few could rival. In his 20 years in the NBA, “King James” has also built a massive commercial presence,
earning the most from endorsements among NBA players in 2024 by a considerable margin. However, many still understandably consider Michael Jordan the league’s greatest all-time player. During his time with the Chicago Bulls, the five-time MVP winner was at the heart of the team’s two three-peats during the 1990s and stepped up when it mattered most. With the help of Air Jordan branding, MJ also became basketball’s first truly global icon. While active players such as Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Nikola Jokić are phenomenal players in their own right, it is hard to imagine any of them reaching the same status as MJ or LeBron.
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