Local TV Struggles Hit NBA Players in Their Pockets

NBA players will—on the whole—be earning slightly less money than projected next season. 

While the league’s salary cap will rise by $10 million next season, largely due to the $77 billion media rights deal it signed in 2024, initial projections were $1 million higher. 

The seven-figure haircut is largely because of lost revenue from the collapse of Main Street Sports, the group that operated local television networks for 13 teams and has missed multiple rights payments to teams in recent months. 

Main Street is expected to shutter at the end of the NBA and NHL seasons this spring. The NBA and NBPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The NBA is projecting its salary cap for the 2026–27 season to be $165 million, according to ESPN, up from $154.7 million. But the league had told teams earlier this year that it projected next year’s cap at $166 million.

Regional sports networks have struggled for years amid widespread cord-cutting. Multiple teams have started their own streaming platforms for games as a result of the issues, including the Jazz, Suns, and Mavericks among others. The league’s new media deal puts more games on national television and streaming through NBC and Amazon, respectively, and lessens the reliance on RSNs, but the league is still grappling with the issue. In September 2024, commissioner Adam Silver told reporters the league had 18 local networks either in bankruptcy or defunct. 

Main Street Sports, the parent company of FanDuel Sports Network, missed another set of scheduled rights payments to NBA teams in January, raising concerns about the company’s viability. Shortly after, Main Street Sports lost all nine of its MLB contracts. Main Street has struggled to find a new buyer and in February, the company signaled that it plans to wind down its operations at the conclusion of the NBA and NHL regular seasons.  

Local television rights are part of the pie of “basketball related income” that NBA owners share with players in a formula dictated by the collective bargaining agreement. In addition to media rights, other revenue sources that owners share with players include ticket sales and merchandise.

The league’s salary floor would be at $149 million and the luxury tax line is at $201 million. The first apron is $209 million and the second is $222 million. Both apron lines are $1 million below their original projections, according to ESPN, but still significant jumps from this season. The first apron line this season is $195.9 million and the second is $207.8 million, which are increases of roughly $6 million and $14 million, respectively.