The New CBA: BRI Revenue Sharing

The NBA lockout lasted 149 days, robbed us of 16 regular-season games and wiped out the entire preseason schedule. After nearly two years of bickering, players and owners grudgingly agreed to disagree, a new collective bargaining agreement is about to be ratified (hopefully), training camps are set to begin Dec. 9 and opening day appropriately lands on Christmas Day.

Though we are headed for happy holidays, what took so long negotiating the new CBA? Truth be told, I’d love to fully understand all this myself.

The 2011 CBA should help stabilize the monetary strain for ownership. The league claims losses of roughly $1 billion the last three seasons and 22 teams are losing money. The players’ union disputes these figures.

The 2005 CBA allowed players to prosper financially like never before, thanks to lengthy guaranteed contracts and 57-percent BRI revenue sharing, both of which have been reduced in the new deal.

The new CBA is still not complete. Negotiations for so-called “B-List” issues began Friday. The final version still must be written, proofed and re-proofed. The details we will share are based on the last proposals made public.

From now until the Thunder’s first preseason game on Dec. 18 at Dallas, we will share one aspect every day of the new CBA and together we will do our best to better understand the issues that put us through withdrawals for 149 days. This is an attempt to educate us all. Your remarks are welcome. If you’re a lawyer or economist, your insight would be greatly appreciated.

We begin with one of the heavyweight issues:

BRI REVENUE SPLIT

2005 CBA: Players received 57 percent of Basketball Related Income (BRI).