It’s no secret that watching sports is becoming more expensive. I’ve written about this before, but it bears repeating: the cost of being a fan is rising, while the difficulty of actually watching your team increases. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver recently provided what some consider a tone-deaf response during the NBA Board of Governors meeting about the growing financial burden on fans.
This year marks the start of the league’s new 11-year media partnership with The Walt Disney Company, along with agreements with NBCUniversal and Amazon. Under these deals, ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock, and Prime Video will telecast NBA games. For fans, this means juggling multiple subscriptions just to watch nationally televised games.
While Silver’s comments may have seemed tone-deaf, they reflect the reality of who the league serves—and it’s not always the fan.
When asked about the rising costs being passed on to viewers, Silver didn’t hesitate, saying he thinks about it “a lot.”
Sure, he does.
How Fans Are Watching the NBA
NBA television ratings were down for much of last season, only to rebound slightly later, ending with a 2% decline. This mirrors the NFL’s modest drop in 2024, while the NHL saw a 13% decline.
Overall, NBA regular-season viewership has declined for three consecutive years. The main factors are cord-cutting and the shrinking cable audience. The appeal of live sports alone can’t justify the cost of a cable subscription when streaming packages offer lower-cost alternatives.
The NBA only followed the trend. They embraced streaming.
This year, cord-cutters looking to watch NBA games will need subscriptions to Peacock, Prime Video, and ESPN—without including the cost of regional sports networks that carry local team coverage.
So, should the Commissioner be asked about this costly shift for fans? Absolutely.
His answer is what left many scratching their heads.
“There’s a huge amount of our content that people can essentially consume for free. I mean, this is very much a highlights-based sport,” said Silver. “Instagram, TikTok, Twitter—you name it. Any service… There’s an enormous amount of content out there. YouTube, another example, that is advertising-based that consumers can consume.”
Silver is correct. The NBA and its teams excel at providing bite-sized content for fans to consume nearly in real-time at no cost. This applies not only to the NBA but also to the NFL, MLB, and NHL.
It’s not just the leagues—sports networks have been following this model for a while. For example, the redesigned ESPN app offers a “verts” feature: a short-form video scroll providing instant access to key plays, along with an AI-generated SportsCenter if you wish.
Silver’s comments highlight how younger audiences consume content and how the NBA has adapted to meet them where they are. While this doesn’t directly answer the question about rising costs, it’s an accurate observation.
The Cost of Viewing the NBA
Content consumption has changed. Fans don’t have to embrace it, but ignoring it comes at a financial cost.
“I think most people are conditioned to paying a certain amount for high-value content,” said Silver.
Again, the Commissioner is not wrong. High-value content—the ability to watch the full broadcast whenever, however, and wherever you want—is exactly what these streaming services provide.
In fact, the league is attempting to curb the cost by working with regional network partners. This season, the NBA will broadcast 75 games on over-the-air television, up from 15, allowing local affiliates to make more games available for free.
Still, much of the outrage from sports media following Silver’s comments is misguided.
Who Does Adam Silver Work For
The Commissioner of the NBA is appointed by the Board of Governors, made up of team owners and their respective representatives. The job of the Commissioner, since he is appointed by the ownership groups of the league, is to ensure the owners of the league are happy.
The new 11-year media rights contracts increased the value of the league’s media rights packages to a record $77 billion. That gives the league and ownership groups more revenue to help deal with the rising salary cap in the league.
The result? Owners make more money. Players make more money. And the NBA enjoys unprecedented financial security, with agreements that have no opt-outs and potential for market expansion.
The league also saw its second-highest attendance ever last season, despite rising costs of going to games.
Make no mistake about it, Adam Silver is doing his job—successfully—on the business side.
While it’s easy for sports media to lament that things aren’t like they used to be, professional sports have never been healthier. The leagues are the biggest drivers of revenue, viewership, social media engagement, and other metrics that traditional TV programs can only dream of reaching.
I understand the frustration of having to navigate multiple streaming services and empathize with concerns that the league may be ignoring “the fan.” But the facts are clear: Adam Silver is ensuring the NBA remains front-facing, accessible, and financially strong.
Even if it comes at a higher cost for fans.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
The only way to fight this is the fans to say….Enough. And just watch the games available on “non streaming” outlets. And frankly…it may be too late.
It’s 2025. There’s nothing new here. Sports leagues are about making money first and foremost. Then maybe some thought about fans, but not much. Commissioners work for the owners and are about making them money first and foremost. As was set above, the only way fans gonna have a dent in this is to hit them where they live. If stadiums and arenas are half full and pay to watch outlets don’t get the money they expect, there might be some relief. But don’t count on it. As we’ve seen in the sports world, nobody is giving any money back.