And Rick Harrow, he is sports business analyst at FinTech TV.
We're here to talk all things the National Basketball Association.
Happy Friday to you here, Rick.
First off, how are ratings looking for fans watching the NBA from the comfort of their own couch as we head into the playoffs this weekend?
Up, up 8, 9% and even more.
Look, the play tournament is a newfound way to get more teams interested.
If you're 8, 9th, 10th seed, I know a Miami 10th seed ousted, but man, it was an interesting couple of weeks to get here, about a 25 to 100% premium.
Ad rates for any playoff game.
These are playoff games, and even if they're probably not gonna win the NBA championship, you can't tell the people in that city that it's gonna happen.
So, it's like your household, right?
You're excited about the playoffs.
Let's assume they started two days ago.
Well, right, yeah, that's fair.
I, so I feel like the early pers the the chatter, the perception of the play in tournament has been maybe surprisingly popular.
We all just saw what Steph Curry did a few nights ago.
How has it been received and has there been any criticism of the new model?
Well, the new model is always tinkerable, just like the playoffs in in NASCAR and the FedEx Cup.
I'm here at a golf tournament.
Everybody wants to tinker with it.
But at the end of the day, tinkering just means you wanna get it better, not to eliminate it.
And yeah, we saw what Steph Curry did.
On the other hand, Miami and Charlotte was a hell of a game as well, and all of these games are interesting because by definition, these teams are pretty close.
And there is some drama to a one and done, as we know in baseball, they've adopted that system as well.
And so like I said, it's another opportunity to generate more real estate for TV.
And let's remember the TV deal is a $76 billion deal.
Amazon is covering the play in tournament for the first time a streaming service gets it from beginning to end.
More to come.
Yes, and that probably leads us to the conversation about franchise valuation.
These are some eye-popping numbers here, Rick.
Obviously the Golden State Warriors, the New York Knicks, the LA Lakers, they're the top dogs in the league, but the average NBA team is now worth more than $4.5 billion.
What is driving these valuations higher and higher every season?
Yeah, some would say you're wrong.
OK, the average is about $5.5 billion.
Uh, and yeah, you think Golden State is eye-popping at $11.33 billion?
I would say so.
What's driving it is the arenas that are being built, the international expansion of the game from a branding perspective slash getting ready for the Olympics, the $76 billion TV contract, and the lower relative get-in price.
I know $4 billion is not low.
But that's the value of Memphis.
And if you wanna do it, you can probably do it easily.
Baseball was the low get in, not today.
Jose Feliciano, the other one, just put in a bid for the Padres for 3.9 billion on the baseball side.
So, low get in still works in basketball.
Yeah, I think the valuations are so high, at least here in New York, because it would cost me about $500 if I wanted to go to the Knicks-Hawks game tomorrow night at the world's most famous arena.
The thing is, the more expensive those playoff tickets get, the more and more comfortable my couch looks.
Rick, before I let you go, who do you got winning it all this year?
00, wow, interesting.
Uh, I'm thinking Oklahoma City, you know, I was involved in that deal.
I'm excited about it.
Here's the other winner, the NBA Vegas, Seattle, going for nearly $10 billion at the end of that bidding process.
And if you think values are high now, my friend, they're even higher of, uh, uh, uh, longer, longer term.
Take out a mortgage, suck it up, go to the Garden, root for the Knicks.
Yeah, OKC also the odds-on favorite among the poly poly market participants as well.
All right, Rick Carl, sports business analyst at FinTech TV, enjoy the playoffs.
Enjoy the games.
Go next, Rick, thank you.
