Lakers' Local TV Deal Sets Them Apart, Says Windhorst
ESPN insider Brian Windhorst says the Lakers' $180m annual local TV deal with Spectrum SportsNet exceeds what any NBA rival earns from national media combined.
The Lakers pulled in roughly $680m in revenue last season and posted a profit of $129m, according to figures ESPN's Brian Windhorst laid out on the Hoop Collective podcast. Home games account for a large share of that: about $245m came from ticket sales, parking, concessions, premium seating and suites.
Windhorst singled out one line item as the club's real edge over the rest of the league.
"Here's what interests me in particular — the local television rights revenue. That's the contract that sets the Lakers apart from everyone else. $180 million a year," Windhorst said.
The figure refers to the team's local deal with Spectrum SportsNet. By comparison, every NBA club is expected to receive around $144m from the league's new national media agreement with ESPN, NBC and Amazon, plus roughly $32m more from other league-wide revenue streams. That puts combined national payouts at about $176m per team — still short of what the Lakers collect from local rights alone.
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