Interesting Story: The Spirits of St Louis was an ABA (American Basketball Association team). In 1976, the ABA merged with the rival NBA, but they only accepted 4 out of the 6 teams, teams like the Spurs, Pacers, etc. So two teams: the Kentucky Colonels and Sprits had to shut down. The Colonels owner settled for a $3.3 million payment. In today’s money its almost $20 million
But the Spirit owners took 1/7 of each ABA team going to the NBA’s TV money in perpetuity 😊
So, in the last 40 years, they have made 100s of millions of dollars without having a team 😊
In 2014, the NBA finally bought them off for a $500 million lump sum
So they probably earned close to $1 billion
© 2026 Praveen Puri
