NBA commissioner Adam Silver kicked a hornet's nest when he was asked about the rising prices for games and he responded, "There's a huge amount of our content that people can essentially consume for free. I mean, this is very much a highlights-based sport. So Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, you name it. Any service, the New York Times, for that matter, to the extent that your content is not behind a paid firewall."
Understandably, fans were not happy to hear their favorite sport being referred to as a "highlight" sport when they want to watch the games and it's nearly impossible to legally watch all 82 games of a team throughout a season without paying an exorbitant amount.
Adam definitely whiffed on this one. But I can tell you that unless a lot has changed in the last 20 months, he is one of the people standing up for fans in a room where a lot of owners are not. https://t.co/XvaJd7KgVP
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) September 11, 2025
Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban called Cuban out for that take before eventually backing him up with a post on X/Twitter: "Adam definitely whiffed on this one. But I can tell you that unless a lot has changed in the last 20 months, he is one of the people standing up for fans in a room where a lot of owners are not."
Cuban then broke down why there's not one central streaming for every team in a separate post, basically stating that there is too much money out there that people are networks and subscription services are fighting over. But it's definitely frustrating for people to pay for NBA League Pass, basic streaming services, Amazon Prime, and many other things and still not be able to watch every game.
The Dallas Mavericks launched MavsTV last season as a way to combat Bally Sports going for broke and not being able to continue broadcast games. MavsTV was streamable on phones and the website, and it's not a terrible price at $125 to watch all season.
However, the one big drawback is that it is for local fans only, so people within the market of WFAA and KFAA. Everyone else still has to use NBA League Pass, which still doesn't show every game. There are even more services this season with the introduction of Amazon Prime, with Dirk Nowitzki working for them this season, so there are even more things for fans to charge for.
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