James Dolan To Vote No On NBA Operating Budget For 2024-2025

New York Knicks owner James Dolan remains in the news for controversial reasons. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Dolan sent a letter to the NBA Board of Governors stating he would vote ‘no’ on the league’s operating budget and “continues to take issue with the league office.” Dolan will be the only one with no vote, as the other 29 owners vote in unison to approve the massive television rights package the league signed this off-season, which will take effect between 2025 and 2026.

Dolan released the following statement in July, which explained his thinking.

“The NBA has moved to an NFL model — deemphasizing and depowering the local market. Soon, your only revenue concern will be the sale of tickets and what color next year’s jersey will be. Don’t worry, because due to revenue pooling, you are guaranteed to be neither a success nor a failure. Of course, to get there, the league must take down the successful franchises and redistribute to the less successful. This new media deal goes a long way to accomplishing that goal.”

The model Dolan discusses is the significant streaming component the NFL recently incorporated into its budget and will soon be part of the NBA’s business model. Amazon Prime will air several NBA games per season, forcing viewers to buy streaming rights instead of watching the game on local television. Of course, Dolan owns the MSG network, which was started by his father and broadcasts all local Knick games.

Dolan’s Knicks are finally in contention after the breakout season from point guard Jalen Brunson, who brought his team into game seven of the second round in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. The team traded for Mikal Bridges during the off-season, loading up on 3-and-D wings to slow down the Boston Celtics and counter their best players, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.