Jazz owner doesn’t believe NBA could face a real threat from a startup league anytime soon

[ad_1]

Jazz owner Ryan Smith, seen here with team minority owner and Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade, doesn’t think that the NBA will face a real threat from a rival league anytime soon. (Rob Gray-Imagn Images)

Though LIV Golf’s introduction completely shook the sport to a point where it’s still trying to come back together even years later, at least one NBA owner doesn’t think that type of a fracture is possible in his league.

Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith shut that idea down on social media on Monday while responding to a former minority owner of the Golden State Warriors. The future of the league, he insisted, is “the brightest it’s ever been.”

Having ownership stakes across 4 pro sports leagues, I couldn’t disagree more. The NBA’s future and reach is the brightest it’s ever been. The global player movement & adoption along with a strong mobile experience is differentiated. Plus the willingness to innovate and change… https://t.co/J3Z3tO1kd9

— Ryan Smith (@RyanQualtrics) February 3, 2025

To be fair, Smith is a little biased here. As an owner of the team — he purchased the team for $1.66 billion in 2020, and also owning the NHL’s Utah Hockey Club, MLS’ Real Salt Lake and the NWSL’s Utah Royals — he very clearly benefits when the league itself does well.

The idea started Monday after Chamath Palihapitiya said that he sold his minority stake in the Warriors over fears that a new professional basketball league was going to threaten the NBA. While that may seem like a far-fetched idea, it’s already happened elsewhere in the sports world, and new basketball leagues are popping up.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund launched its rival league, LIV Golf, to the PGA Tour and inked several of the sport’s biggest names to ridiculously lucrative deals. The two sides have been engaged in talks of a merger-of-sorts for over a year now, but golf as a whole is still very fractured.

There has been talk of a new international basketball league, backed by Maverick Carter, and they are seeking to raise $5 billion to get it started. That league apparently has no intention of directly competing with the NBA, but…

[ad_2]
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/jazz-owner-doesnt-believe-nba-could-face-a-real-threat-from-a-startup-league-anytime-soon-225822165.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-02-03 22:58:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.