By Dom Serafini
ESPN stopped carrying soccer (football), and most would agree that this should be viewed as a loss. Indeed, it is incomprehensible how the world’s most popular sport is not a top TV moneymaker in the U.S.
In my opinion, it is a matter of how poorly soccer is presented to U.S. viewers.
But I also have another concern. With NBA and NFL players soon to earn $100 million per year it’s inevitable that the cost to viewers is going to increase exponentially, with potentially huge losses to TV outlets (like TNT) that will have to sacrifice rights without having developed an alternative popular sport such as soccer.
The NBA recently closed deals with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon worth $77 billion over 11 years. The NBA money is split with the players, with the players getting 51 percent of the league’s revenue. Under this plan, as mentioned above, salaries are such that players could soon be making $100 million each a year. This is predicted for the 2032-33 season.
In 1979 the annual top salary in U.S. sports was $1 million (for Nolan Ryan in baseball). In basketball the top salary was earned by Larry Bird ($5 million in 1991). In the NFL, the top salary was $3.25 million in 1990 for Joe Montana.
Today, a starting salary for NBA players is $1 million, and top players could soon be making $1 million per game.
Predictably, Wall Street has come out to support the wild side of the world of sports. Private-equity companies have become buyers of marquee sports teams, leveraging broadcast, digital, and scripted series rights.
American financiers are picking up high-profile soccer teams in the U.K., Italy, and France. Americans now control half of Britain’s 20 Premier League teams. Other investors, such as Sixth Street, have broadcast deals with Spanish soccer teams Real Madrid and Barcelona.
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