So who's paying? I can understand why the Lakers are doing well.
But a typical team, let's say the Spurs?
Professional sports have gotten to the point where fans in attendance in the stadium are not the primary revenue source.
Just look at the current NBA television contract, 11 years and 76 billion dollars, which is almost 7 billion per year despite ratings falling off a cliff, this is just for the US television market, estimates are the NBA brings around 5-6 billion more per year from China.
Before the NBA sells ONE ticket, they bring in around 13 billion per year in TV money, divided by 30 NBA teams equally.
Each NBA team is generating around 400 million per year in TV money alone.
It’s not hard figure out how a team in San Antonio can compete financially with a team in LA, the NFL is the same way, a team in Jacksonville, FL can compete financially with teams in NY, Chicago and LA.