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Study says NBA will be worth $115.9 billion in five years, 56% higher than 2021

Raptors expected to be worth 50% more

Publishing date:

Aug 24, 2022 • 40 minutes ago • Read for 2 minutes • Join the conversation

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors raises the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award after defeating the Boston Celtics 103-90 in Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 16, 2022 in Boston.
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors raises the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award after defeating the Boston Celtics 103-90 in Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 16, 2022 in Boston. Photo by Adam Glanzman /Getty Images

A new study projects the NBA will be worth $115.9 billion (US) in five years, a whopping 56% more than in 2021.

That’s an average of $3.9 billion per team.

Onlinecasino.ca analyzed each team’s valuation and revenue data from 2012-2021 to compile The Richest NBA Teams by 2027 list.

The study picks the Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers as the three richest NBA teams by 2027 in valuation and revenue.

The Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans and Minnesota Timberwolves are predicted to be the least valuable teams. The Orlando Magic, Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons are predicted to be the lowest revenue earning teams by 2027.

New streaming rights are expected to bring in tons of money for the NBA and the league’s television contracts with ESPN and Turner Sports (which will pay them $24 billion in total), ending after the 2024-25 season.

It’s expected by most pundits that the next television and rights deal will pay the NBA at least double and possibly triple the $24 billion (the NFL, the most popular sport in the US, got $113 billion), raising the value of franchises significantly. Even if the NBA expands (Seattle and Las Vegas are seen as the front-runners), those franchises would pay an entry fee, to be split among the existing clubs. There’s little question franchise valuation is set to skyrocket.

The Lakers became the first NBA team worth $1 billion in 2012. The Los Angeles Clippers sold for over $2 billion and it’s estimated that the Knicks, Warriors and Lakers are now worth north of $5.5 billion. Most estimates peg the Toronto Raptors as worth around $2.5 billion, which would rank them in the top 9-12 teams in terms of valuation.

The study expects the Warriors to be worth $10 billion by 2027, a 76% gain; The Knicks at $8.6 billion, a 49% gain; The Lakers at $8 billion, a 45% gain. The Raptors are projected to be worth $3.7 billion, a 50% gain.

Onlinecasino.ca sourced each team’s valuation and revenue from The Business Of Basketball on Forbes.com. Data was captured from 2011-2021 and using this data, the predictions were calculated using a forecast function. Raw data can be found here.