By Brynn Thompson
Rumblings have surfaced recently that make it seem further possible that LeBron James will be coming aboard with New York after this season.
When LeBron turns into a free agent in the end of the 2010 season, the Cavs will be in the number one position to re-sign him. This is because of the Larry Bird rule, which allows a team to go over the salary limit in order to extend their own free agent.
The New York Knicks will give James a huge deal, although they will not have the talent to offer LeBron as a lot as the Cavaliers. So they got inventive in the big city and found a way to sidestep that darned salary cap.
The rumor is that the Knicks will not only give LeBron a max contract, however additionally his own cable channel. As you can know, the Knicks are wholly owned by Cablevision, a cable TV giant.
LeBron might receive income from the advertisers on his cable channel. According to NBA regulations, the franchise would not be permitted to set up these advertisements/sponsors for LeBron; he might need to do that himself. But I think we would all acknowledge that LeBron possesses enough connections in the commercial sphere to make this possible.
Assumption is that the television network would show reruns of New York basketball games (whose rights are owned by Cablevision), as well as other programming regarding LeBron, the Knicks, in addition to the league. Some have even predicted that Nike would seek to be involved and create their own television series.
The large issue is whether the NBA would consent to this. It seems to be fully within league regulations. The cable television network might be seen as a marginal privilege of playing in New York, similar to a amount of other advertising benefits that come from playing in a particular city. The income would be perceived as non-basketball related revenue.
This is a new and interesting twist in the LeBron-to-be-a-free agent saga. The broad consensus has been that the Cavs are leading the race. Possibly that's starting to change?
When LeBron turns into a free agent in the end of the 2010 season, the Cavs will be in the number one position to re-sign him. This is because of the Larry Bird rule, which allows a team to go over the salary limit in order to extend their own free agent.
The New York Knicks will give James a huge deal, although they will not have the talent to offer LeBron as a lot as the Cavaliers. So they got inventive in the big city and found a way to sidestep that darned salary cap.
The rumor is that the Knicks will not only give LeBron a max contract, however additionally his own cable channel. As you can know, the Knicks are wholly owned by Cablevision, a cable TV giant.
LeBron might receive income from the advertisers on his cable channel. According to NBA regulations, the franchise would not be permitted to set up these advertisements/sponsors for LeBron; he might need to do that himself. But I think we would all acknowledge that LeBron possesses enough connections in the commercial sphere to make this possible.
Assumption is that the television network would show reruns of New York basketball games (whose rights are owned by Cablevision), as well as other programming regarding LeBron, the Knicks, in addition to the league. Some have even predicted that Nike would seek to be involved and create their own television series.
The large issue is whether the NBA would consent to this. It seems to be fully within league regulations. The cable television network might be seen as a marginal privilege of playing in New York, similar to a amount of other advertising benefits that come from playing in a particular city. The income would be perceived as non-basketball related revenue.
This is a new and interesting twist in the LeBron-to-be-a-free agent saga. The broad consensus has been that the Cavs are leading the race. Possibly that's starting to change?
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