Wall Street and Silicon Valley veterans are lining up to make big bets on the NBA

Veterans from the worlds of finance and technology are using their professional skills to take on a totally new kind of competitive arena: the National Basketball Association.

The season is expected to kick off next week, and the list of Wall Street and Silicon Valley billionaires chasing a return on investment on the hardwood is getting longer.

Apollo Global Management co-founder Tony Ressler earlier this year led a group of investors that includes NBA great Grant Hill to buy the Atlanta Hawks in a deal valued at more than $800 million.

Ressler is a seasoned Wall Street pro, and also put money into Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Brewers 10 years ago.

Gone are the days where a local real estate magnate or entrepreneur winds up running the town's team. Now, increasingly wealthy executives who made most of their money on either coast of the US are swooping in, and paying huge sums to take over pro franchises.

Before we kick off the NBA season, Business Insider breaks down the winners and losers in basketball who have all the skin in the game: the owners.