NBA Sells $193M Debt For Teams, Brings Total Debt To $6.7 Billion
The NBA is selling $193.2 million in senior secured notes, borrowing against their national media rights flows.
The NBA’s Hardwood Funding LLC subsidiary is selling four tranches of debt in uneven portions of $60 million, $93.5 million, $20.8 million and $18.9 million. Based on disclosures by Fitch Ratings, which rates the debt A-minus with a stable outlook.
Teams can elect to take advances of up to $275 million from the league against the flows, according to information contained in reports by Fitch Ratings.
The NBA now has $6.7 billion in debt with this week’s sale. A year ago, the NBA had $5.4 billion in outstanding debt. In 2019, the league had $4.5 billion in debt.
The NBA rating is similar to the other major pro leagues in North America, although Major League Baseball and the National Football League maintain lighter debt-to-annual revenue levels of about two-to-one, while the NBA’s debt level right now is about three-to-one.
