Can Europe afford the NBA's biggest stars?

[Neal04]

Not to sure if it's already been posted but I thought it was an interesting read about how some European teams might be able to pay a superstar 50 million dollars a year net(80 million before taxes). It outlines the economical standpoint from the teams and the player. Also tells how a deal could be eased on the team but still be worth the same amount(like Beckham's deal). Although as the writer constantly states, it's more than unlikely that a team will pay 50 million net but not impossible.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/s ... urope-0808

But the Galaxy are actually paying the Englishman only $6.5 million this season. The "missing" $43.5 million comes from the large endorsement portfolio Beckham and his wife Victoria already had in place when they left Europe.

Beckham's representatives encouraged media on both sides of the Atlantic to use the $250 million figure in an attempt to gain pub and justify a move that, purely in soccer terms, made no sense.

Beckham's sponsors and endorsers are happy, because having him based in L.A. rather than Spain, where he played for Real Madrid, assures him and their products of more exposure.

If Olympiacos, for example, could convince major global companies to contribute toward James' salary, the deal might become affordable.

[DaDragicShow]

Not a chance, they'll go bankrupt.

[Blame Rasho]

I like what they said about Greece...lol

[carrottop12]

What people are also forgetting is a lot of these teams are paying American's in American dollars. Well as everyone knows American dollars right now are down quite a bit in value.

So if a guy like Josh Childress signs a 21 million dollar deal for a team in Europe it seems like a good deal because it's essentially a 15 million euros deal.

Well if the economy goes back up which it is going to in the next few years, all of a sudden the owners of the team Childress plays for are paying millions of more Euro's then they originally planned.

I don't think they will be able to afford it when the real superstars are available.

[Jameson41]

What people are also forgetting is a lot of these teams are paying American's in American dollars. Well as everyone knows American dollars right now are down quite a bit in value.

So if a guy like Josh Childress signs a 21 million dollar deal for a team in Europe it seems like a good deal because it's essentially a 15 million euros deal.

Well if the economy goes back up which it is going to in the next few years, all of a sudden the owners of the team Childress plays for are paying millions of more Euro's then they originally planned.

I don't think they will be able to afford it when the real superstars are available.

What gives you the impression the American dollar will improve in comparison to the Euro? I mean given the American dollar will improve simply because of the improvements along the Gulf Coast post Katrina, but i see no reason to believe it will improve significantly against the Euro.
With a new office coming in aswell, id be extremely weary of whats to come. Massive injection into economy leading to short term gains but how will it effect the future?
I know it has its pluses but i really don't like Americas two term policy on Presidents.

[M.Balla]

It's clear that Childress salary (and a superstar would be 7x that) it's not profitable on Europe right now. And I dont think that basketball it's going to grow so much to make it like that.

It's just some Greece/Russian millionaires whim. And they can afford it. I mean, CSKA Moscow's "real owner" bought on May Francis Bacon's Triptych for US$86.3 million. His fortune is estimated on $23.5 billion, and since his business is the oil, he's getting richer by the minute. If he wanted LeBron or Kobe on his team, he can afford 50 millions and much more. And I guess Olympiakos's owners are on a similar situation.

So can Europe afford the NBA's biggest stars? No, but a couple of billionaires can do it.

[6_Rings]

if they can bring in the fans i don't see how the team's gonna go bankrupt.

[dacher]

A Belgium company bought Annheiser-Busch very recently


So, yes, if they want to, they have the means. It might not make financial sense though, if the game isn't popular enough, also considering the teams play less games in a season than in the NBA.

EU GDP > USA GDP. This doesn't even include European countries not part of the EU.

[RapsGM]

Of course they can, alot of the team owners are multi millionaires going on billions, so they damn well could afford one big contract like that.