For the NBA, its newest media rights deal is a gold mine. The deal brings in 160% more revenue per season as compared to their last one. More games will be available to fans in general. However, New York Knicks owner James Dolan isn’t a fan of the new model. He opposed the league’s latest deal as it takes games away from local broadcast. Dolan even wrote a letter to owners across the league to join his stance. But reporter David Aldridge doesn’t see why they would go against the league.

Vincent Goodwill even went as far as calling the rebellious owner a “nuisance”. Aldridge though took a more mellow stance explaining why the league’s new deal benefits the league drastically as compared to having more games available for regional sports networks.

“Back in the day the Browns, everybody had their own TV deal. The Cleveland Browns had their own television deal. Put their games on television in Cleveland because the thought was nobody outside of Cleveland wants to watch the Browns so let’s make a deal for the Browns, for Cleveland. And they made a lot of money off of that TV deal. And then Pete Rossell came in and said it would be better for the league if we put our games on national television and got rid of all the local TV deals… That’s the same thing the NBA is doing now,”. Aldridge explained.

By adding a third streaming partner, the NBA ensures more nationally televised games available to fans than ever before. Even small market teams will see greater exposure and it also brings more income into the NBA. However, for teams such as the Knicks, they lose their local network sponsorship money which is a significant loss to them.

Despite this, the overall experience for the fans will only improve. Yes, James Dolan will lose money due to fewer games on his MSG network. At the same time, the NBA will be able to expand its global operations, resulting in increased viewership and overall prosperity for the league.

How does the deal affect the fans?

A major drawback of the $76 billion media rights deal was the death of RSNs. Silver addressed the concern and accepted the outcome. However, he also mentioned how even before the signing of the new deal, 18 of their RSNs had become bankrupt. Hence, the league isn’t putting giants out of business, but rather moving to an efficient and diverse model.

Through the new deal, NBA games will be televised all seven nights a week. Does this benefit the fans? In terms of their subscriptions, viewers will pay more to avail of two streaming channels and a broadcast network. But it also provides better access to NBA games for ardent fans all across the globe.

Streaming giants such as Amazon and NBC will air a great number of games on their platforms, allowing every fan to get a piece of gripping NBA action. At the same time, the NBA’s league pass will still remain available to fans which displays every out-of-market game regardless of the streaming platforms.

The change, although a little complicated, will enhance the experience for both the NBA and its passionate followers. More people will view the game, the finances will improve dramatically and hence every team will benefit equally. The aim is to grow the league and make it global like the NFL, which adopted the model long ago.