NBA Finally Escapes Horrendous Contract

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/nba-pay-two-brothers-500-165704100.html


NBA Will Pay Two Brothers $500 Million To Get Out Of A Crazy Business Deal Made In 1976
Business Insider By Cork Gaines
7 hours ago



The NBA has finally broken free from what may have been the worst contract in the history of professional sports.

The NBA will pay two brothers $500 million to end a deal that required the league to give the former ABA owners an annual share of the league's television revenue according to Richard Sandomir of The New York Times.

As part of the NBA-ABA merger in 1976, Ozzie and Daniel Silna accepted a share of the NBA's "visual media" rights in exchange for folding their ABA franchise, the Spirits of St. Louis. The deal was to last "in perpetuity." With the growth of the NBA and its television revenue, the brothers were receiving 1.9% of the revenue in recent years, or about $17.7 million annually.

There were also concerns that the amount would go up as the brothers were suing for a share of "visual media" that did not exist in 1976, including online broadcasts, the NBA's own network, and international broadcasts.

According to the report, as part of the settlement, the brothers will still receive some television revenue as well as some revenue from the additional media mentioned in the lawsuit. However, there is a buyout clause in the new agreement which would allow the NBA to end the deal at any time.



bob



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That's on top of the approximately $300 million they already made off the deal.  

Wow.  $800 million paid to them now for excluding the St. Louis Spirits when the NBA/ABA merger brought in the Pacers, Spurs, Nets and Nuggets in '76 to the league.  Sweet deal.  The Kentucky Colonels owner accepted a one time payout of $3.3 million at the time for the same thing.

When you take into account that the Colonels owner was our old friend John Y. Brown, it's no surprise he took the (short) money and ran. Foresight was not his strong suit, as witnessed by his belief that the dynamic duo/duds of Sidney Wicks and Curtis Rowe would meet and defeat the rising Sixers challenge of Erving, McGinnis and Caldwell Jones, all of whom he was very familiar with from his ABA days.

"That guy's so dumb he'd probably trade the Kentucky Derby for the Indy 500."---Red Auerbach on John Y Brown