Adam Silver: NBA Not Exploring Sovereign Wealth Funds as Majority Team Governors

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says the league has no plans on allowing sovereign wealth funds to become majority governors of teams in the near future.

"I don't want to say what could ever happen, but there's no contemplation right now," Silver said Monday at the Associated Press Sports Editors convention. "I mean, it's very important to us, putting aside sovereign wealth funds that individuals are in a position to control our teams, be responsible to the fans, be responsible to their partners and to the players.

"It's very important to us that there be a person [in charge], and this is independent of sovereign wealth funds. I think that in terms of the connection with the community, the connection with the players and their other partners in the league."

NBA bylaws currently prohibit sovereign wealth funds from owning more than 5 percent of a franchise. The Qatar Investment Authority purchased a 5 percent stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment last month, which provides the country's wealth fund a passive stake in the NBA's Washington Wizards, along with the WNBA's Washington Mystics and NHL's Washington Capitals.

Sovereign wealth funds have become increasingly involved in the sports world, particularly in the United States. Saudi Arabia has had a longstanding relationship with WWE, which holds two premium live events in the country every year, and their Public Investment Fund is bankrolling LIV Golf, which recently announced a merger with the PGA Tour.

Saudi Arabia has also become a player in the soccer space, luring Cristiano Ronaldo to Al Nassr with a massive nine-figure contract.

Silver said the investment of sovereign wealth funds in the NBA and live sports speaks well to the continued growth of professional sports leagues.

"Interestingly enough, those funds are making financial investments in these teams," Silver said. "To me, I think the investment community is just following that trend and saying this is a true growth opportunity.

"So I continue to be, as you might expect, very bullish on the opportunity here. But again, I think if you look at the fundamentals of our sport, if you look at the amount of interests from all these different platforms in carrying live sports programming ... I think it's why we're seeing a very positive outlook and why at the end of the day those values are representative of the marketplace."