When it comes down to what makes a perfectly run sports league there are three main components. The first is to have a strong leader or commissioner. The second, it is imperative to have a tight and well run financial system. And finally, a league be active in the community and online. There are six major professional leagues in the world. The English Premier League, Major League Soccer, National Hockey League, National Football League and National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball. The NBA is the best ran league of the group.
The first component to having the best ran professional sports league is to have a strong leader at the top. First, one must look at the commissioner in order to determine which league is best . The media hates the NHL and NFL commissioners, while the MLB’s commisioner is brand new so it is difficult to compare him to the likes of Roger Goodell and Adam Silver. That leaves us with the MLS, EPL and NBA leaders. The NBA’s leader is Adam Silver who spent 23 years working in the league’s front office. He made his stamp as leader last April when he banned Clippers owner Sterling from the game for life. This swift and aggressive stand has earned him credibility around the league. On the day of the banning all the league’s players stood behind Silver and praised his leadership via social media. Silver not only has a Juris Doctorate but is experienced in movie production as well. . His unique resume and talents give him an advantage in today’s markets. Silver knows the media, but also knows the law.
The second component of what makes a good league is revenue. The NBA is one of the few leagues where every team earns a surplus of 100 million dollars per season and every franchise is worth 600 million or more. The league in general ranks third amongst professional sports leagues in total revenue as of 2012. They are bringing in 2 billion dollars less than the NFL but we will see how that number changes due to the NFL’s name being dragged through the mud in the midst of recent controversies.
The NBA dominates the media landscape. In 2014 the NFL resigned with DirecTV for 12 billion dollars. That’s a large sum of money? Yes, but their TV deal in 2011 was worth 27 billion. On the other side the NBA just resigned with ESPN and Turner for 24 billion. The tide isn’t just turning in TV media but also in social media. The NBA more than doubles the second place league in the NFL with 27 million likes to 12 million likes on Facebook. They have over 6 million subscribers on YouTube which is more than all of the major professional leagues combined. The importance to this is not in how big their following is or how great their contributions are rather in that the NBA saw social media as a useful tool for league branding and recognized their responsibility to give back. This gives us an inside look into how well the league is being operated. Putting the game right into their hands engages and empowers the viewers. This creates culture. As we move toward the future the NBA will prosper due to their early involvement in technology. The NBA website is the easiest sports site to use and is the most interactive by far. It puts all the games of the day in the top for easy access, then under, puts stories in video and written format. Finally at the bottom they put links to their TV, Community and Social Media sites. The other leagues make very little effort to link their TV or Social sites from the main website. This limits where the fan can wander on the page. The NFL for instance is not interactive at all. A good website needs to be laid out with the scores of the day first then under, with videos and articles, After, you need to include interactive feature so a fan can get lost in the site.
They have also been the leader in giving back. The NBA Cares campaign has donated more than 230 million dollars to charity, 2.8 million hours of hands on service, and built over 860 places to live in 25 countries. No other league comes close to those numbers. The NBA is the worldwide leader in service.
In conclusion, the perfect league has a strong leader, tight finances, and is active in the community along with social media. The NBA exhibits all of this and is a leader in the future for the other leagues. That is why the NBA is the best ran league. The real question to ask is not if the NBA is the best ran sports league but is it the best ran company in the world?
-Chris Schlierman
