The world of sports has basketball as one of the most important ones. Matches are played on the state-level, national, and even international level every year. Several leagues manage basketball globally which includes the Euro League, LIGA ACB, Basketball Super League, National Basketball League, and several others as well. Over the past few years, basketball has emerged as the rising sport in the US as well as other parts of the world. Let’s evaluate that with the help of the following graphs.
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Basketball Worldwide Popularity Compared to Other Sports
To give a better idea about how popular basketball is all over the world, we have evaluated basketball popularity through the number of fans compared to other sports. It comes within the top 3 most popular sports of all time. In the first place, we have football which has 3,500 million estimated fans followed by Cricket having 2,500 million estimated fans. Next comes basketball which has an estimated fan following of 2,200 million. Field hockey is also close with about 2,000 million fans. Other sports in this list include Tennis, Volleyball, Table Tennis, Baseball, American Football, and Golf.
NBA Level of Interest in Specific Countries
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional league based in the United States. It is also considered the world’s most popular league for basketball. This is because the NBA has its interests outside of the USA as well. This includes the Philippines at first where the NBA has 63% interest followed by China having 38% and Canada having 30% interest by the NBA. Mexico, Argentina, and Spain are also quite close having 29%, 28%, and 27% interest by the NBA, respectively. Australia comes at last with just 19% interest by the NBA.
Level of Interest in NBA per Age Group in the United States
Basketball is quite popular in the USA but only among a certain age group. Not everyone is into basketball and some are just Casual Fans or Not a Fan of the sport. Data analysis shows that the age group of 35 – 44 and 45 – 64 have the most Avid fans (33%) while the age group 18 – 34 has 27% Avid fans. In the US, people aged above 64 are not much of a fan of basketball and this is apparent from the graph as 64% of the people are not a fan of basketball. We can conclude that young adults and adults have the most interest in basketball in the US.
Level of Interest in the NBA per Ethnicity in the United States
Basketball has been discriminated against quite often as a sport that belongs to a particular ethnicity. This is made clear by evaluating the level of interest in the NPA depending upon the ethnicity in the US. From the charts, we can evaluate that Blacks and Hispanics are on the top with 40% and 34% people turning out to be Avid fans while 36% Blacks and 34% Hispanics are casual fans. In the case of Whites, there are only 16% Avid fans while 28% are casual fans and the remaining are not fans of basketball. Among all other ethnicities, 27% are Avid fans, 37% are casual fans, and 37% are not fans of basketball.
NBA’s Total League Revenue From 2010/11 To 2019/20
The NBA has promoted basketball through state and international matches. Many clubs are now a part of this league which is why the NBA has seen massive growth in the total league revenue in the 10 years between 2010 and 2020. In 2010, the revenue was $3.96 billion which showed a slight fall in the next year by coming down to $3.68 billion but then showed a consistent increase. The revenue maxed during the year 2018/19 when it reached $8.76 billion and fell to $7.92 billion in 2019/20.
Graph 6 – NBA Revenue Breakdown 2019/2020
The NBA does not only earn from just basketball matches and sponsorships. As a matter of fact, multiple revenue streams account for the billions worth of revenue generated by the NBA. 56% of the revenue comes from TV rights which allows the channels to provide live streams to the viewers. 19% comes from ticket sales of the matches where spectators can watch live. 13% comes from the sponsorships offered to NBA while merchandise and other miscellaneous items account for 12%.
Earning from Broadcasting Rights of the NBA
As stated in the previous graph, most of the revenue generated by the NBA is via the Tv channels which purchase broadcasting rights from the NBA. In terms of numbers, this is huge for both domestic and international channels. The domestic right earnings for the NBA are $2.6 billion while the overseas rights account for $450 million. The combined total is $3.05 billion which shows how big the NBA is from just a single revenue stream.
Average Annual Player Salary in Various Sports Leagues
While many people think that football players earn the most, the average annual salary for the players is quite less. In fact, it is basketball in which the players have the highest average annual salaries. From the graph, we can evaluate that the average annual player salary for the National Basketball Association is $8.32 million followed by the Indian Premier League where the average salary per year is $5.3 million. Major League Baseball and English Premier League players earn almost the same amount of $4.03 million and $3.97 million respectively. Other associations in this list include National Football League, La Liga, National Hockey League, Seri A, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1.
Basketball Salaries Across Basketball Leagues
When it comes to basketball, players earn differently in various leagues. Since the NBA is the most important and popular one, players in this league earn a significantly higher amount compared to what they would earn in other basketball leagues. The average annual salary in the NBA is $1 million while the maximum annual salary is $16 million. Other leagues such as CBA have an average salary of $225,000 while the maximum salary is $500,000. All other leagues follow the same pattern and have the average salary as well as maximum salary close to the CBA. Only the NBA has both of them at an extraordinarily high level.
Highest Paid NBA Players in 2021 (Salary and Endorsements)
As of 2021, the NBA has paid the players well worth in terms of millions. Many new contracts have been signed up as well. The players are given their basic salary along with several endorsements as well which cost a lot. Among the highest-paid NBA players, there is Lebron James with a $31.4 million salary and $64 million endorsements. This is followed by Stephen Curry having a $34 million salary and $40 million endorsements. Other highest-paid NBA players as of 2021 include Kevin Durrant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul, and Damian Lilliard.
Highest Annual Earnings from Signature Shoe Deals
A fun fact about the basketball sports industry is that the shoe signature deals cost millions. Many brands have popularized themselves with their signature shoes which include Nike, Jordan, Adidas, and others as well. Among the highest annual earnings from signature shoe deals, Micheal Jordan is on top with the “Jordan Shoe Deal” costing $130 million. Lebron James has signature shoe deals with Nike that get him $32 million. Kevin Durrant has multiple signature shoe deals with Nike and Under Armour which gets earnings of $46 million. Other important basketball players with signature shoe deals are Kobe Bryant, James Harden, Zion Williamson, and Dwayne Wade.