While disclosure forms must be filed …

While disclosure forms must be filed for any lobbying activity, the amount of money must be disclosed only if it exceeds $5,000. The NBA was named on three separate reports—all from the same firm, all with work on “cable and satellite royalty payments” to the U.S. Copyright Office—but none of those reports was for more than $5,000. These could have represented $1 each or $4,999 each. Either way, however: The NBA spent far less on federal lobbying than any of its counterparts.