David Stern Says NBA Revenues to Hit Record $5 Billion This Season

The NBA is doing well financially; really well. Commissioner David Stern estimates that the League’s revenues will reach record levels this season. Per the AP: “NBA Commissioner David Stern estimates revenue will be a record $5 billion in the current season, an increase of about 20 percent from the league’s last full season in 2010-11. Speaking Tuesday at Beyond Sport United, a gathering of global team, league and industry executives at Yankee Stadium that focuses on social responsibility. Stern said NBA expansion to Europe is probably at least a decade away and that it likely would make sense to add several clubs there at once. ‘I think for us the thing that would make the most sense would be a division in Europe at the time that it comes,’ he said. ‘I don’t see that for another decade at least. Not one team.’ […] The league’s revenue estimate is for the year ending next Sept. 30. That puts the NBA third among the major North American leagues, trailing the NFL ($9 billion) and Major League Baseball ($7.5 billion), but ahead of the NHL ($3.3 billion). ‘I would say that China, which is the largest segment outside the U.S., is doing very well. I would say we’ll see that to some degree as well in Turkey, in Africa, in Brazil,’ Stern said. ‘The components are broadcast, digital, merchandise, marketing partnerships and events, which can be games and the 3-on-3 tournaments and clinics, any variety of events that draw people.’ Stern said the NBA is broadcast in 46 languages to 216 nations or territories.”