The National Basketball Players Association is drawing a line in the sand over NBA expansion revenue. NBPA Executive Director David Kelly said publicly on July 25, 2026 that the players association believes expansion fees should be included in basketball-related income (BRI) — the revenue pool that determines player salaries under the collective bargaining agreement.
"My issue with NBA Europe is the fact that it's outside of BRI, and I think it should be inside of BRI," Kelly said, as reported by the Boston Globe's Gary Washburn. "We look at expansion fees also being outside of BRI as something that, you know, historically has been the case. We don't think it should be the case. We don't think it's fair. Now, of course, fairness has nothing to do with the negotiation. The CBA is leverage, but that's definitely something we would want to address depending on when expansion teams come in."
The stakes are enormous. With two expansion franchises projected at $7–10 billion each, the combined expansion fees could total $14–20 billion — distributed exclusively among the NBA's 30 current team owners under the existing CBA framework. Under the current rules, players receive none of this windfall.
Houston Rockets point guard Fred VanVleet, an NBPA executive committee member, offered a more measured take at the Summer League in Las Vegas. "The game is in a beautiful place, the business is growing and it's our job to negotiate our rights within the ever-changing business that we're in," VanVleet said. He also pushed back on concerns about talent dilution from expansion: "This is the best talent that we've ever had. I think that players are increasingly getting better; young guys are pretty much turning pro earlier. The pipeline is better than ever."
The NBPA's position on expansion fees could become a significant point of contention in future CBA negotiations. The current CBA runs through 2029, meaning any expansion teams launching in 2028–29 would operate under the existing agreement — potentially without players sharing in the expansion fee revenue.
For Seattle fans, the NBPA's stance adds another layer of complexity to the expansion timeline. If the league and players association cannot agree on how expansion fees are treated, it could delay or complicate the formal approval process — though most analysts believe the financial incentives for owners are strong enough to push the expansion forward regardless.