Datastream
A Decade of NBA Profit: How Did the League Fare in 2020?
The Briefing
- Because of the global pandemic, NBA teams missed out on approximately 20% of their regular-season home games in 2019-20
- Despite this, average team profits in 2020 fell by less than 12% compared to the year prior, and team values are up 4% in 2021
- The New York Knicks are once again the most valuable team, for the sixth year in a row
A Decade of NBA Profit: How Did The League Fare in 2020?
The NBA has gained undeniable traction over the last decade, at least from a financial standpoint.
In 2011, 22 of the 30 teams were losing money, and the average operating income per team sat at $6 million. But, fast forward to 2020, and every team in the league was profitable, with average operating income surging to $62 million.
Here’s a look at team profitability since 2011, according to Forbes:
Year | Average Operating Income | YOY Change |
---|---|---|
2011 | $6M | -- |
2012 | $12M | 100% |
2013 | $24M | 100% |
2014 | $23M | -4.2% |
2015 | $30M | 30.4% |
2016 | $31M | 3.3% |
2017 | $52M | 67.7% |
2018 | $61M | 17.3% |
2019 | $70M | 14.8% |
2020 | $62M | -11.4% |
Despite years of momentum, the NBA was not immune to the impacts of COVID-19 last year. However, thanks to hefty TV contracts and player salary cuts, average operating income only fell by 11.4%, from $70 million to $62 million.
The Most Valuable NBA Teams
Despite a decrease in NBA profit per team last year, team values are up 4%—from $2.1 billion in 2020 to $2.2 billion this year.
Here’s a look at the top five most valuable teams in 2021:
Rank | Team | 2021 Valuation | 1-Year Change |
---|---|---|---|
1 | New York Knicks | $5.0B | 9% |
2 | Golden State Warriors | $4.7B | 9% |
3 | Los Angeles Lakers | $4.6B | 6% |
4 | Chicago Bulls | $3.3B | 3% |
5 | Boston Celtics | $3.2B | 3% |
The Knicks took the top spot for the sixth consecutive year, but the Lakers lost their long-standing second place ranking to the Warriors. It’s the first time another team has made the top two since 1999.
» Interested in sports investing? Then you might enjoy this article Investing in the Beautiful Game of Football
Where does this data come from?
Source: Forbes
Details: Team values are measured using 4 metrics—overall sport revenue, market size, area revenue, and brand.
Datastream
Charted: The Ukraine War Civilian Death Toll
Using data from the UN, this chart shows civilian death toll figures resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Briefing
- In total, since the war began in February there have been over 7,031 Ukrainian civilian deaths
- Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons, such as missiles and heavy artillery
Charted: The Ukraine War Civilian Death Toll
Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine has wrought suffering and death on a mass scale, with many Russian attacks targeted at civilians.
We’ve created this visual using data from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to better understand how many civilians have died in Ukraine as a result of the war, as well as how many were injured and how many were children.
The Numbers
As of early December, it is reported that 7,031 people in Ukraine have died because of the war — 433 of them children. Another 11,327 have been injured, 827 of which are children. In total, this is over 18,000 people killed or injured.
The figures are difficult to verify due to differing reports coming out of both Russia and Ukraine. The UN OHCHR anticipates that the numbers could be even higher.
The State of the Conflict
The war began on February 24th, 2022 and less than a year in, millions of people have been displaced by the conflict, and thousands of civilians have been injured or killed.
According to the UN, most of the civilian deaths have been caused by wide-ranging explosives such as heavy artillery shelling, missiles, and air strikes, and have been concentrated in Donetsk and Luhansk and in other territory still held by Ukraine.
Additionally, new estimates from Kyiv report approximately 13,000 Ukrainian military or soldier deaths, which has yet to be confirmed by the army.
Where does this data come from?
Source: The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights monthly reports on civilian deaths in Ukraine.
Note: Data on deaths and injuries can vary wildly depending on the source.
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