NBA Lockout

Enjoy this season because according to billy hunter there is a 99% chance there will be a lockout because the CBA expires and the two side are far apart on their differences.

http://blogs.bettor.com/Billy-Hunter-says-NBA-lockout-looming-a43316

I see a lot of games on NBA league pass and I see a lot of arenas that do not have enough fans in their seats. This would certainly lead many to think that the NBA is losing money therefore reducing salaries and other benefits is justified.

The facts however do not paint such a dim picture.

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/65479

This is all about millionaires vs millionaires. Fans are caught in the middle of this rich squabble. Teams outbid one another for players and then complain about how much money they had to spend. The so-called salary cap and all the exceptions and conditions were put in place to prevent the rich elite teams from cornering the market on the best players. It was put into place to stimulate competition in the league. So-far it has sort of worked. There are a lot of competitive teams out there but the small market teams cannot compete in terms of retaining young stars or signing the best free agents.

Lots of empty seats out there because the fans have had enough. They have had enough of the high ticket prices, the high premium they have to pay to get a hotdog and a coke for thier kids, the high price they have to pay just to park their freakin car and the result too often is a report that Antoine Walker is broke or that Allen Iverson is broke. This after having earned $100+ million dollars. All of it coming from hard working fans...after tax dollars and one too many disappointments.

It is time to bring some sanity to all of pro sports. These players and the owners are to blame for this situation and I can only imagine a time in perhaps the not too distant future where pro sports will no longer exist because it is no longer possible for Joe fan to pay the price to watch and still keep a roof over his head.

dboss

dboss,

While you present great, unbreakable arguments with which for the most part I agree, I disagree with your conclusion.

Clearly, it is a rich man's game funded by middle/lower class fans for the most part. The people that can afford season tickets will pay for them because of their love of the game, family tradition, etc. regradless of price. The bulk of the gate support, I would think, comes from the occasional ticket buyer wanting to take his kids to see a pro game. I don't know how many season ticket packages are sold per 18,000 seat arena. But with 41 games plus playoffs, even at $50 times at least 2 people, that's a minimum of $4,000. I have to imagine that number is a very low percentage of the total. Any hard numbers on that? I'm just curious.

One other measure, I would guess, would be what percentage of the suites are filled per game.

Now granted if you are going to an NBA game, you know your wallet is open. The average fan can still get by pretty cheap if they want to. I assume we all have been to games. Yes you can spend hundreds (thousands) of dollars if you want. You can also spend a minimum amount if you want.

But for the man or woman that wants to take his kids to experience a game, money is not the issue for the most part. Not in the short run. They may take them to only one game that whole season.

Now does the fan have a choice? Absolutely. If prices get so high that Joe Fan has to think, "Can my money be better spent on my family somewhere else?", he can make another choice.

I just don't think the present situation with empty seats is because they are fed up with the NBA. They are the ones that created the situation to date. I think it comes down to the opportunity cost question. Where is my dollar best spent? They still love the game. And yes going to a game is a great experience. But the hard core fan that occasionally goes to a game (I would put myself in that category) isn't worried about the money (or the cost of a game) per se. What may be happening though is the NBA, along with all the LeBron/Miami bs, threat of a lockout, etc., the typical fan is saying, "Hey, there are some other option I want to look at before I go to an NBA game." That's what is dangerous for the NBA. For your typical fan, like myself, you don't want them thinking that at all. That's what will lead to empty seats.

I think the fans are to blame for the most part. The owners and players are just doing what smart business owners across the US do every day. Offer a great product. Find a willing buyer at the max possible price. The buyers of the product, ourselves, don't have to buy at the current price or the next price or at all. But we have clearly pushed it to its current level. Otherwise, there would be no NBA.

Are the owners offering a crappy product? I don't think so. Do they have some problems in the marketing, accounting and delivery of it? I think so.

In conclusion, we have a mess. Do I want a work stoppage? No. Contraction, yes. Down to 24 would work for me. Then you wouldn't have games like the Sacramento vs. LA Clipper crap that was on last night for Thanksgiving. As far as salary for the players, I don't care. They have already priced themselves way out of anything imaginable for me with just their regular salary. Since I helped create the current situation one little fan at a time and want more of the product, it looks like sour grapes to me if I complain.

I hope some sanity can be brought to this game. But the fan is going to have to take a hard look at themselves for this to happen, not so much the management and owners, although they will re-create themselves and present something even more amazing in the future.

dbrown

I think the second article link suggests that while NBA revenues are down, they are not down by a lot (given the current state of the economy) That's because of TV revenues I think.

In that context it is difficult to accept the owners position that they want to cut $700-$800 million from payroll. The players are well paid and probably overpaid but they will not be willing to accept a pay cut unless revenues support a reduction.

But I cannot put the blame on the fan. The fan responds appropriately when for example the product on the court is sub par. That will certainly give rise to more empty seats. The fan does not own the team or negotiate the price of a ticket. Yes they can choose to support the team or not support the team. In this economy the price of admission may be too high for many fans.

There is a breaking point...

My primary concern is that if there is a lockout, an aging team like the Celtics could easily have their 2 year window abruptly shut at one year. This year. What happens if the Celtics do not have any games to play in the 2011-2012 season?

The fan has no control over this. We may be watching this product for the last year so enjoy the season.

dboss

Hope Simmons take is right but I doubt it.
More articles on the lockout

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/There-is-definitely-going-to-be-an-NBA-lockout?urn=nba-288544


http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/David-Stern-NBA-lockout-looms-after-2010-11-season

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/chris_mannix/07/12/stern.las.vegas/index.html

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/02/10/veteran-players-believe-nba-lockout-more-likely-than-not/

Unfortunately, all we hear about are the LeBron's and Carmelo's of the NBA world. Good point about the "little guys" in the NBA that make up most of the union, I would think. As hard as it may be to believe, you can go broke on $500,000 a year just as easy as $30,000.

If DFish is pushing for the little guys, he's going to have to bend a little. They'll find a solution. Stern is Stern.