St. Louis brothers strike payday from NBA exclusion

Brothers who agreed to fold the St. Louis Spirits basketball franchise in 1976 have reportedly reached a conditional agreement with the NBA to buy out their share of league television revenue.

The New York Times reports the deal releases the NBA from its financial obligation to Ozzie and Daniel Silna, whose American Basketball Association team was excluded from the merger with the NBA. The brothers negotiated for one-seventh of national TV revenue that four ABA teams – the Brooklyn Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs – were slated to receive as long as the NBA existed. Thus far, the deal has generated about $300 million for the Silnas.

According to the Times, the Silnas are receiving $500 million up front, financed through a private placement of notes by JPMorgan Chase and Merrill Lynch. It appears 80-year-old Ozzie Silna and 69-year-old Daniel Silna also have an opportunity to form a new revenue agreement directly with the four NBA teams, according to sources familiar with the settlement.

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