After many rounds of tuging, the NBA finally reached an agreement with the players' union on a new version of the collective bargaining agreement, but the "Pandora's box" may be opened.
On April 1, the new version of the collective agreement was released, and the 2023-24 season will take effect as long as the players and owners approve each other (biased towards the process). In addition to familiar provisions such as salary caps, award criteria, protection of small and medium-sized teams, and the introduction of mid-season tournaments, the most striking are two: allowing active players to invest in NBA teams through private equity institutions designated by players' unions; Allows players to endorse and invest in companies that do gambling and cannabis business.
At present, none of the team equity deals of the four major professional sports leagues in North America are open to active players, and the NBA is likely to become the first league to "eat crabs", which is also the direction that the players' union has been working towards.
Michele Roberts, the former executive director of the players' union, told The Athletic that she hopes to help players acquire shares in the team during her tenure: "For some reasons, the existing rules prohibit active players from owning shares in the team. The players create value for the team and not be able to share it in any meaningful way, which haunts me all the time. ”
Tamika Tremaglio, after taking over as executive director of the players' union, also reiterated to The Athletic: "The team's shareholding structure can be appropriately diversified, including the sale of the team's shareholding, taking into account the players' contributions to the game and the compensation they receive." ”
Now the players have got what they want, moving further from "high-paid workers" to "partners".
According to Sportico's NBA team valuation list released in December 2022, the valuations of all 30 teams in the league have increased compared to the previous year, with the top-ranked Golden State Warriors valued at $7.56 billion, up 25% year-over-year, while the bottom-ranked New Orleans Pelicans were valued at $1.63 billion, up 8% year-over-year. In addition, the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks sold teams at valuations of $4 billion and $3.5 billion, respectively.
James' dream of taking a stake in an NBA team may not have to wait until he retires to come true.
Judging from the trend of NBA team valuation growth, if the active players can take a stake in the team, even if it is only a small part of the equity, it is also a valuable and excellent asset, which is definitely a strong supplement to their investment and financial management territory. When the NBA was expanding its army, LeBron James expressed his intention to own an NBA team in Las Vegas.
This new regulation is a big plus for player investment, but it is worth paying attention to how it will be implemented in practice. For professional sports leagues, the direct interest relationship between active players and league teams will cause many problems, the most direct question is, if a player is a shareholder of Team A, but wants to play for Team B, when the two teams meet in the regular season, playoffs, or even the Finals, can he really play for Team B without distraction, and how much negative will it have on the quality of the game and the public opinion environment facing the team and the league?
Of course, after the active players join the team, there are also two barriers of follow-up control of players' unions and private equity institutions, and allowing active players to associate with bookmakers may bring more direct and greater negative impacts.
Since the legalization of sports betting in the United States, professional sports leagues and bookmakers have become closer and closer, and there is more and more public opinion that odds affect the trend of matches. Even so, the league and the team are still willing to accept sponsorship from bookmakers, and DraftKings and FanDuel are the official sports betting partners of the NBA. Subsequently, sports betting ads in NBA live broadcasts gradually became the norm, and even broadcasters launched special live streams for sports bettors to display data such as real-time odds.
Professional sports leagues are directly associated with bookmakers, indirectly putting referees on fire. As a person who has the ability to influence the trend of the game and the final score, the referee's missed judgments, misjudgments and misjudgments in the game will be examined by the outside world with a magnifying glass, and even questioned whether the referee did it intentionally.
After losing to the Suns on March 30, Minnesota Timberwolves player Rudy Gobert said bluntly: "I've been in the league for ten years, and I'm always reluctant to question the referee, but it's hard for me today not to think that the referee is helping the Suns win, helping the Warriors and helping the Kings the other day, from a basketball player's point of view, they do it too obviously, I've played in the league for so many years, they do it too disrespectfully." Gobert was subsequently fined $25,000 by the league for publicly criticizing the referee.
Whether the referee deliberately influenced the game through the penalty is difficult to have specific data to corroborate. But if the league allows active players to have interests with bookmakers, their match data is the most direct point of reference, and as long as they perform poorly, they may face a thousand times more public pressure than referees. Compared with the referee in charge of blowing penalties, it is normal for athletes to have ups and downs in their playing form, especially in key matches, no one can guarantee that they can perform at their usual level 100% under pressure, but it may be difficult for the outside world to look at it rationally, and players will naturally be stigmatized as "participating in gambling".
Whether it is players taking a stake in the team, or allowing players to endorse and invest in bookmakers, it is to increase the income source of players, but also put forward higher requirements for the league's regulatory ability, how to evaluate whether players have "match-fixing" through a more complete and strict management system and consideration standards. If such a situation does occur, how the alliance will punish the public and kill the monkeys, these are potential minefields.
In a news note, the NCAA recently banned its schools and students from receiving sports betting sponsorships, and the existing partnership must end on July 1 this year.
In fact, no matter how strict the NBA is, the "match-fixing" scolding that lingers on the heads of leagues, referees and players will certainly not dissipate, which will affect the reputation and commercial income of the league, teams, and players, whether the harm outweighs the benefits or the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, and the results may only be known when these new regulations really land.