You want savage?:
The owners of the old ABA Spirits of St Louis made a deal with the league during the 1976 NBA-ABA merger. At the time of the merger there were 4 teams that would become new NBA franchises (Nets, Nuggets, Pacers and Spurs), and two that would not (Kentucky Colonels and St Louis). The other ABA teams had previously folded. Also at the time of the merger, TV money was fairly meager.
The owners of the Colonels agreed to a $3 million buy out, but the owners of the Spirits negotiated a $2.2 million buy out PLUS a (partial) share of future NBA broadcast revenue - in perpetuity.
$300 million later, in a 2014 lawsuit settlement the owners of the former Spirits agreed to another $500 million upfront payment in exchange for what they had been getting, plus a portion of certain new broadcast revenue streams (foreign broadcasting rights and cable out-of-market subscriptions) going forward. At least there is a buyout provision in the new deal.
(The lawsuits had to do with the perpetuity clause, and broadcast revenue from streams not in existence at the time of the original deal)
Way to stick it the NBA!
