NBA threatens contraction

[CatNation]

so in wake of the poor revenue numbers of the NBA, the vice commish has brought up the idea of contracting poor earning teams in small markets. Us being in that category, how worried are you about the possibility of our team being contracted? I can't imagine the NBA wanting to dick over Charlotte again so soon...

[SWedd523]

The NBA is in the middle of record revenues. If he said the revenue numbers are poor then he's sandbagging.



Also, if you got that from a source, please post the link

[teej]

Yeah, I watched the press conference today and when Silver was talking about revenues, that was not uttered at all.

[CatNation]

I dunno I just got it off RealGM

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wir...cent_pay_cuts/

[teej]

It'd cost them so much to buy out the owner(s) of those teams (i.e. Sacramento, Minny, Indy, Memphis, maybe CLT and ATL) that it wouldn't make them money until Stern was dead...

[CatNation]

apparently they lost like 400 million dollars last year alone. thats enough to buy controlling interests in at least a couple of those teams

[dnbman]

Sounds like a bargaining chip. If they contract, that's 15 player jobs lost per team. If you're talking about 4 teams, that's 60 players out of NBA work. The "solution" to keep salaries higher is not one that a percentage of the union will want, making he union think compromise more.

[GoBobs]

The NBA doesn't want to contract this is all posturing.

Overall the NBA does a poor job of marketing itself and then blames the small markets for not pulling there weight, just like it blames the players for having too much salary. We have seen ourselves that small market teams don't get any media coverage to help them build their brands. LB said he had forgotten what it was like to be at the press conference after a game last year during the playoffs.

The experience of going to a basketball game has improved little in the last 20-30 years while many new competitive forms of entertainment have evolved. When fans prefer to watch the games on TV rather then improve the experience of coming to a game the NBA has sought to black out the TV audience. It isn't the players fault or the small market's fault the NBA is only a shell of what it could be. It's David Sterns fault.

Basketball is perfect for TV. It is fast paced with tons of scoring. It is a lot safer then football considering concussions and head to head collisions. It could easily be the number one sport in America if the league had anything that resembled leadership.

[TattoodCats4life]

I agree GoBobs.. If the league marketed correctly they could cash more from the casual fans, and a HELL OF A LOT MORE from the rabid fans...oh and get new fans to boot... The thing I always think about is how to get more people in the arena without making the seats suck...I think if the stadium held oh say 40k instead of 22k people, some teams would still sell out, and smaller teams might not fill it out, but even if they ran huge promos (say even buy 1 get 3 free, which is insane I know, or $5 tix or something) they'd still make concession money and souvenir money...not to mention the money otherwise pumping into the local economy when people leave the arena and spend money on food etc. Still a win/win.

[spectre]

The NBA doesn't want to contract this is all posturing.

Overall the NBA does a poor job of marketing itself and then blames the small markets for not pulling there weight, just like it blames the players for having too much salary. We have seen ourselves that small market teams don't get any media coverage to help them build their brands. LB said he had forgotten what it was like to be at the press conference after a game last year during the playoffs.

The experience of going to a basketball game has improved little in the last 20-30 years while many new competitive forms of entertainment have evolved. When fans prefer to watch the games on TV rather then improve the experience of coming to a game the NBA has sought to black out the TV audience. It isn't the players fault or the small market's fault the NBA is only a shell of what it could be. It's David Sterns fault.

Basketball is perfect for TV. It is fast paced with tons of scoring. It is a lot safer then football considering concussions and head to head collisions. It could easily be the number one sport in America if the league had anything that resembled leadership.

Well said.

That 400 number is pure BS, and GoBobs makes an EXCELLENT point...look at our TV situation. The NBA mandates that 75 mile radius thing, so they're the main culprits keeping teams like us building a bigger fanbase.

I also saw where the owners want players' salaries to contract 1/3 overall. Yeah, right.

Stern is a lawyer isn't he? He's playing to his other profession.