Knicks owner James Dolan has scathing critique of NBA’s new media deal

Jan 4, 2022; New York, New York, USA; Executive Chairman and CEO of Madison Square Garden, James Dolan, walks off the court after the New York Knicks defeated the Indiana Pacers 104-94 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

New York Knicks owner James Dolan is evidently not pleased with the NBA’s new $74.6 billion media deal.

Reports emerged last week that the NBA had agreed to terms on its record-breaking new media deal . The next step was reportedly for the NBA’s board of governors to approve the contracts the league planned to send over to its potential media partners.

On Monday, Dolan reportedly sent out a plea to the NBA’s board of governors in the form of a letter. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the letter laid out several of Dolan’s objections to the NBA’s proposed new media deal structure.

Dolan claimed that the league has proposed a revenue-sharing model among NBA teams that “takes down the successful franchises and redistributes to the less successful.”

“The NBA has made the move to an NFL model — deemphasizing and depowering the local market,” Dolan wrote. “Soon, your only revenue concern will be the sale of tickets and what color next year’s jersey will be. Don’t worry, because due to revenue pooling, you are guaranteed to be neither a success nor a failure.”

Dolan also objected to a supposed $6 billion, equivalent to 8% of the total deal, that the NBA will retain for itself under “total-NBA related fees,” per the report. The 69-year-old claimed in his letter that the NBA failed to provide owners with “sufficient justification … nor transparency” as to how the league arrived at the figure.

The longtime Knicks owner also alleged that the new deal would devalue teams’ local sponsorships in favor of league-wide ones. You can read more of Dolan’s letter here .

Dolan is no stranger to playing the role of NBA contrarian. The Knicks owner was the lone holdout for one of the league’s major decisions last year.

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