File this one under “Duhhhhhhhhhhh” and cross-reference it with “Seriously, no sh*t, guys.” Earlier this month, we brought you the rumor that NBA commissioner and future Del Boca Vista resident David Stern could possibly be considering selling ad space on NBA jerseys the same way that he already does with the WNBA. And by “possibly be considering” I mean he is definitely already planning on it. When you openly admit that 22 of the teams in your league lost money last year, you’re probably going to do anything short of giving handies at a truck stop to make ends meet.
Thankfully, for anyone who didn’t think this was an inevitability, John Q. Businessman, AKA Mark Cuban, is here to draw it out for us in gigantic letters.
“I’ve been trying to tell [the NBA],” Cuban said. “If someone wants to give us $10 million, I’ll make it happen.”
“If the amount’s enough, David will jump up and down,” Cuban said. “He’s not going to do it for $200,000 from Power Balance, but if somebody offers us $25 million, it’s done.
“We just have to work out the split with all the teams so everybody gets the benefits.” (Via the Star-Telegram, H/T to Hardball Talk)
Um, I never actually took any business classes in college, but what is there to work out? There are 30 teams, so the revenue would be split 30 ways. Well, it will be split once Stern takes the NBA’s 90% cut, or something to that effect, but after that it would just be a 30-way split.
That is, unless they’re going to start fighting over finder’s fees, which is partially absurd, but I also kind of understand where they’d be coming from. After all, Donald Sterling can only turn down FUBU’s money so many times before the rest of the owners voice their displeasure.
