Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the Premier League’s highest
earner
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While the Premier League’s new wealth of riches has
seen an influx of financial gains to new signings, across the Atlantic those
monetary figures are being made to look like pocket change.
This upcoming season the disparity between the NBA
and the Premier League is only set to get bigger with the likes of Kevin
Durant’s sporting earnings dwarfing that of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, for example.
Here, Sportsmail explains how the game of
basketball has inflated players wages that only their footballing counterparts
can dream of.
So what is exactly happening in the NBA?
The upcoming 2016-17 NBA season sparks a new
eight-year TV deal with media broadcasters ABC,ESPN and TNT worth an
astonishing £18.2billion ($24bn) through to the end of the 2024-25 campaign. Over
this period the NBA will earn close £2.3bn per year – a significant rise from
their previous eight-year deal of £705m per annum.
The rise in the TV earnings will filter down to the
30 franchises within the NBA thus meaning a larger budget to entice possible
targets – i.e. players.
WHAT ABOUT THE BIG NAMES?
LeBron James will become a free agent on Friday
which allows him to negotiate contracts with the major franchises. He did not
exercise his player option with the Cleveland Cavaliers for next season but is
expected to remain at the team and is eligible for a maximum salary of roughly
£22.6m per season.
Reigning MVP Stephen Curry is currently on a
relatively low contract (£9.1m) at the Golden State Warriors – although he will
expect a considerable rise when it expires.
How does this compare to the Premier League?
It was only last year that England’s top flight
announced their biggest TV rights deal in history.
Starting this upcoming term until the end of the
2018-19 season, the Premier League will earn £5.1bn over this period in
domestic rights from Sky and BT – equating to £1.7bn a year.
So what does the impact of the NBA’s new deal mean
for franchises?
Spend, spend, spend. NBA teams have a salary cap of
£69m to splash on their roster – a rise of £15m. The 30 teams all have a
minimum of £63m to spend meaning some players are given inflated salaries just
to make sure they reach their expenditure quota.
And what about the players?
It’s an eye-watering market for the players who are
benefitting from mind-blowing offers that have never been seen before.
For example, Evan Turner has swapped life at the
Boston Celtics for the Portland Trail Blazers after more than quintupling his
salary.
Last season, Turner earned £2.7m with the Celtics
but his new £58m four-year deal in Portland will see that increase to £14.5m
per term or £279,000 per week.
The Russian center was a bench player for the
newly-crowned NBA champions the Cleveland Cavaliers earning £3.7m per year.
However, the 29-year-old will now pocket £48m over four
years with the Los Angeles Lakers, at £12m per annum; despite the fact they
held the second overall worst record last season.
How does those fees compare with the Premier League?
Not favourably for England’s top flight or
football’s highest-paid players in general. Considering that Mozgov is now
playing for the second worst team his weekly wage is £230,000.
Man United new boy Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Premier
League’s highest earner, is on £260,000 per week.
Why are the players earning so much?
Anticipating gigantic contracts to players, NBA
commissioner Adam Silver warned Players Association president Michele Roberts
that the league increased the salary cap gradually when the new television
contract came.
Sadly for the 54-year-old, his pleas fell on deaf
ears with the Players Association replying with a resounding no – thus, the
mammoth influx of wages.
And has any of Adam Silver’s predictions happened?
Yes. Aside from the astonishing wages offered to
players, an imbalance of the talent has happened too.
Kevin Durant was the lucrative free agent this
summer before he decided to swap the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State
Warriors.
The 27-year-old’s move to the Oracle Arena gives
coach Steve Kerr a tantalising starting five next season, which will include
Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and reigning MVP Stephen Curry – who are
All-Stars.
The increased salary is to blame for this super-team
creation. Despite their stardom Thompson and Curry are currently on relatively
low deals at the Warriors – although they will expect considerable rises when
they expire.
Couldn’t something have been done before?
In 2011 the NBA regular season was shortened from 82
to 66 games due to a lockout between the owners and the players. Known as the
Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations eventually fell in favour of
the latter.
The main issues dividing both sides were the
division of revenue and the structure of the salary cap and luxury tax. Owners
proposed to reduce the players’ share of basketball related income (BRI) from
57 per cent to 47 per cent, but the players countered with 53 per cent.
In the end, the CBA revenue saw players receive 51.2
per cent of BRI in 2011–12, with a 49-to-51 band in its subsequent years.
So what now?
The quality of the NBA has been criticised by former
players – who believe that the number of teams who can win the Finals will only
diminish.
While that is yet to be seen, one for thing is for
certain – players with little impact on their team are set for a financial
windfall over the next eight years.
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