The NBA Commissioner’s name has been linked to Disney.
It has been reported that National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver is on the shortlist to replace the Walt Disney Company CEO Robert Iger. Iger retired as Disney’s CEO in 2021 but recently returned to the job on a temporary basis. He will leave in 2024. Silver has been NBA Commissioner since 2014. Silver has been with the NBA in an executive role since 2006 and became the league commissioner in 2014 replacing David Stern who retired after 30 years on the job. Silver started dealing with the NBA in 1992 working on collective bargaining talks. At the moment, Silver has some major issues to resolve. There is the need to finalize a new collective bargaining agreement. There is a need to reach a deal for a new American national television contract. And there could be a major financial problem for the 2023-2024 season for a number of teams if Sinclair’s Bally Sports regional cable TV networks go bankrupt and if no one wants Warner Bros. Discovery’s regional sports networks. There is also a matter of adding teams to the league in the future but that is taking a backseat to the collective bargaining negotiations, the national TV deal talks and now the problems with regional sports networks.
Silver apparently has been a good commissioner and has done what a commissioner is supposed to do. He has increased league revenues. While Silver would seem to be an odd choice as he is not a longtime TV industry insider, he has been dealing in television since he got a job with the NBA as he was for eight years the president and chief operating officer of NBA Entertainment. Silver’s deal with NBA owners to serve as the league commissioner ends around July 1st, 2024 just after the NBA championship series ends. Silver makes the NBA money which is what Disney wants.
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