The greatest business deal in sports was the one that the dudes who were owners of the St. Louis Spirit of the professional basketball league.The best contract ever
The greatest business deal in sports was the one that the dudes who were owners of the St. Louis Spirit of the professional basketball league.
The Silna brothers owned the St. Louis Spirits at the time of the ABA-NBA merger, when the NBA absorbed the Nets, Spurs, Pacers and Nuggets. Of the remaining franchises, the Virginia Squires folded and the Kentucky Colonels took a $3M buyout, but the Silnas held out. In return for allowing the merger, they got paid $2.2 million, plus one-seventh of the broadcast TV revenues from each of the four teams joining the NBA. That worked out to 57 percent of a normal share, and they got it in perpetuity. They racked up over $300 million before the NBA finally bought them out in 2014, for something like $500 million more. Of course, like the Mets, they lost a big chunk of that money investing with Bernie Madoff. The best deal came for their lawyer, Donald Schupak, who got 10 percent — roughly $1.45 million — every year, just for putting the deal together.The spirits owners desperately wanted a team in the NBA. That's why they had an ABA team to begin with, hoping it would be absorbed by the NBA. They didn't get their wish. Instead, as a "consolation prize", they get a payment (not sure how much) in perpetuity from the NBA.
The Silna brothers owned the St. Louis Spirits at the time of the ABA-NBA merger, when the NBA absorbed the Nets, Spurs, Pacers and Nuggets. Of the remaining franchises, the Virginia Squires folded and the Kentucky Colonels took a $3M buyout, but the Silnas held out. In return for allowing the merger, they got paid $2.2 million, plus one-seventh of the broadcast TV revenues from each of the four teams joining the NBA. That worked out to 57 percent of a normal share, and they got it in perpetuity. They racked up over $300 million before the NBA finally bought them out in 2014, for something like $500 million more. Of course, like the Mets, they lost a big chunk of that money investing with Bernie Madoff. The best deal came for their lawyer, Donald Schupak, who got 10 percent — roughly $1.45 million — every year, just for putting the deal together.
It's a little over 3.5M.....also it's from the RedsI saw on twitter that Ken Griffey Jr gets paid $3.4M from the Mariners until 2024.
The best contract ever