James Dolan isn’t happy with the NBA’s new revenue-sharing plan and is voicing his dissatisfaction.
In a letter to the league’s board of governors, the Knicks owners criticized the new $74.6 billion media deal for making regional sports networks “unviable” and for penalizing franchises like the Knicks that bring in the most revenue and benefiting those that don’t.
“The NBA has moved towards the NFL model, which has made the local markets less important and less powerful,” Dolan said. The letter, obtained by ESPN, reads:“Soon, our only revenue concerns will be ticket sales and next year’s uniform color. Don’t worry, when we pool our revenues, success or failure is not guaranteed.”
“Of course, to get there, the league will have to dismantle its more successful franchises and redistribute them to its less successful franchises. This new media deal will go a long way to achieving that goal.”
Dolan also expressed frustration with the idea that the NBA would retain 8 percent of media contracts without “full justification” or transparency about how that figure was calculated.
By comparison, he noted the league retains just 0.5% of its current media contracts through 2024-2025.
The new deal includes platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Peacock and NBC in addition to ESPN and ABC, meaning games will be available seven days a week on streaming services and local channels.
That means fewer games on regional sports networks like MSG, which airs the majority of Knicks games.
This isn’t necessarily new for Dolan, who has voiced his dissatisfaction with revenue-sharing models in the past.
Last November, he resigned from his positions on the league’s influential advisory and finance committees and media committee.
“The increased number of exclusive and non-exclusive games means that national partners can broadcast nearly half of the regular season and every postseason game. Reducing the number of games available on RSNs threatens to make the entire RSN model unviable,” he wrote. “The inclusion of streaming partners in this proposal would allow fans in all NBA markets to watch certain games in their local market without going through an RSN. This proposal would not provide local protections for RSNs.”
Dolan believes other owners, at least those in a similar position to himself, share his sentiments.
“Once again, ownership pride has fallen victim,” he wrote. “We are becoming a uniform, characterless organization. Let us not forget that we have done this because of owners like Jerry Buss.”
