NBA still losing money, Stern points out

NEW YORK - NBA commissioner David Stern acknowledges the tremendous success the league is enjoying this season. He estimates that gross revenues will surpass $4 billion.

That said, Stern says that the game's financial structure must change. Speaking Thursday at the NBA's office during the Associated Press Sports Editors' annual commissioners meeting, Stern painted a bleak financial picture for NBA teams.

"We are still likely to lose collectively somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 million, which is lower than $370 million of a few years ago and $340 [million] last year," Stern said. "But we still remain very much intent on having a system that actually allows us to both have a sustainable business model."

The NBA's collective bargaining agreement with its players expires June 30 at 11:59 p.m.

The owners and players remain far apart. Stern said the NBA will be giving the union a revised proposal for a new agreement soon.

NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver, among other executives who attended the meeting, said the players now receive 57 percent of gross revenues.

Both Stern and Silver said they are pushing for the system to change to one in which the players would receive a percentage of the net rather than gross revenues.

Silver conceded that there are some deductions off the gross that the owners are allowed to take.

"But it looks a lot like a gross number, and we said we want it to look a lot more like a net number," Silver said. "We don't want to take every penny out, but we should be able to take out a lot more of our expenses and share that with [the players] - that net number rather than off the gross number."

According to Silver and Stern, the average player's salary is $5 million per season. There have been reports that the owners are looking to cut salaries by a third.

"That is generally accurate in a macro sense in terms of total salary or benefits to players," Silver said.

Silver said the league is projecting that eight of the 30 teams will turn a profit this season.

With the NFL in a lockout, Stern often is asked to compare the two leagues.

"They make money. We lose money," said Stern, who also spoke to the media before Thursday's playoff game between the 76ers and Miami at the Wells Fargo Center. "They don't show their books. We show our books. They don't have a [players] union. We have a union."

And though the NBA has shown the players association its books, the numbers are looked at differently.

"I think they accept the numbers we present them, but let's just say they interpret them in different ways," Silver said.

Stern laughed when it was noted that the Miami Heat were rich enough to lure expensive free agents LeBron James and Chris Bosh to go with all-star Dwyane Wade. He said Miami was prudent enough to stay under the salary cap and make the move work.

"The players negotiated hard for free agency," Stern said. "I won't sit across from the union and say, 'You negotiated wrong.' "

He said that there is enough time to get a deal done but added that the owners are adamant that they won't continue to lose money.

As for how long the 68-year-old Stern will remain on the job, he would not say, although he added, "This is my last collective bargaining negotiation."