NBA Labor Pains

[Michael_ Gee]

The coverage of the NFL lockout had its flaws, like all coverage, but it was about a zillion times more informative and clear-eyed than the NBA coverage. There's a beat that needs a house cleaning in a lot of places.

 

[LongTimeListener]

The point stands, though, that the owners are utterly insane at this point. Yet the players will be the ones who get the blame for no season.

It was never about the players but journalists are (for the most part) aren't telling that to their audiences for some reason. Oh, now I remember: A pox on both house! Millionaires vs. billionaires! It makes my hair hurt! I don't want to try and understand labor issues! Why don't the players just accept the outrageous deal of the day so we can watch basketball! Disgusting coverage, overall.

I don't know if it has been that as much as it has been finding humor in the knowledge that the players have known this lockout was coming for at least two years, and if any of them had decided to save some money they could hold firm and win, but they just kept on partying and buying houses.

 

[Starman]

The players could never just "hold firm and win," no matter how responsibly they planned for the lockout or managed their money years in advance.

The players have tons of money but even if they were living an absolutely ascetic lifestyle, the expenses of everyday living take a heck of a lot more of their aggregate wealth than they do for the owners.

And the clock keeps ticking. If the league gets shut down for two years, the owners will still be billionaires (maybe with a few hundred million less in net wealth); the players will be broke, or close to it, with two years of their prime earning careers gone in the wind.

 

[LongTimeListener]

The players could never just "hold firm and win," no matter how responsibly they planned for the lockout or managed their money years in advance.

The players have tons of money but even if they were living an absolutely ascetic lifestyle, the expenses of everyday living take a heck of a lot more of their aggregate wealth than they do for the owners.

And the clock keeps ticking. If the league gets shut down for two years, the owners will still be billionaires (maybe with a few hundred million less in net wealth); the players will be broke, or close to it, with two years of their prime earning careers gone in the wind.

Disagree. First off, a lot of those same hard-line owners overpaid for their franchises and need to start getting some cash flow to regain some liquidity. And if the owners hold out for a second season, their franchise values turn to shirt, people don't re-up for season tickets, and there's serious doubt about whether they're serious about playing.

Baseball and football owners are even wealthier than basketball owners, and their unions were able to apply some pressure.

 

[Starman]

They're all billionaires. Who gives a shirt about their paper losses? They can hold out forever. At the end they'll still be rich.

Pro athletes in any sport have a very limited earning career. Any season or partial season lost to work stoppage is lost forever.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

The simplest and best thing for the players to do is have the stars go to their corporate branding partners and start looking for financing for a new league. Divide and conquer works both ways. Go to the owners of the clubs that are making tons of money and say "you can be with us, or watch as your stars play for the league that'll put you out of business."
The players may not have the taste for risk they'd need for this plan, but it'd work. Who the heck cares if there's a Sacramento Kings or Charlotte Bobcats? If there's a platform where fans can see LeBron, Kobe, etc. play ball, that platform will do fine, thank you. It needs venture capital, some basketballs, and, well, that's about it.

 

[Starman]

It can't fly. The owners control too many of the major arenas.

 

[Stitch]

It can't fly. The owners control too many of the major arenas.

The Kobe All-Stars live from the L.A. Sports Arena. I think the Denver Coliseum can host a team. Put a team on Long Island. Who cares if the arenas smell like death, right? Fans and corporate partners would flock to those palaces.

 

[Smokey33]

It can't fly. The owners control too many of the major arenas.

This issue confuses me. It came up a lot in NBA barnstorming type games the past few weeks. The arenas are owned mostly by taxpayers. How is it tenants of said arenas, NBA owners, have any say in who else rents the arena a few nights a year?

 

[Starman]

They usually demand complete control as part of the arena deal.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

This is not always true, Star. The Celtics are tenants at the Garden, which is owned by the Bruins. But in the event, there are two arenas in Boston, BC's and BU's, that hold 8-9,000, and 10-15,000 arenas in Providence and Worcester. There's one up in Manchester, too. If there's one thing we're not short of in the U.S., it's arenas. It is one of the consequences of the owners themselves always demanding new ones.

 

[jackfinarelli]

The simplest and best thing for the players to do is have the stars go to their corporate branding partners and start looking for financing for a new league. Divide and conquer works both ways. Go to the owners of the clubs that are making tons of money and say "you can be with us, or watch as your stars play for the league that'll put you out of business."
The players may not have the taste for risk they'd need for this plan, but it'd work. Who the heck cares if there's a Sacramento Kings or Charlotte Bobcats? If there's a platform where fans can see LeBron, Kobe, etc. play ball, that platform will do fine, thank you. It needs venture capital, some basketballs, and, well, that's about it.

That's not quite it.

They need venues to play in that will house enough folks to pay the prices to support the league they form and the salaries they will pay themselves.

Those venture capitalists who put up the money you say they need to find, how are they different from owners who are not the players?

Oh, and what about TV deals? Absent TV contracts, no venture capital of any size will show up.

The devil is in the details...