NBA owners are playing a dangerous game – NBA Lockout Special Report
No offense, but only an imbecile would close down a $4 billion a year business in the thick of the most devastating economic depression in generations, just because the profit of more than $1 billion over the last six years was
not sufficient enough.
Doesn’t makes sense right. But the NBA owners are not birdbrain. Instead they believe you are.
They seem to have studied human nature in depth. Deep down, they know that if the preseason or even if the whole season gets cancelled, we will not abandon the game permanently. Whenever it commences again, we will go in numbers
to witness the games because of our unconditional love for the game.
In fact, the passion will only grow more after being devoid of the game for long, resulting in even bigger turnout than before. The revenues might climb to $5 billion than the previously earned $4 billion.
Halleluiah, the owners have everything to gain.
If NBA wins this battle against the players, a large share of your ticket money will fall in their pockets. That’s exactly what the owners want. Instead of rewarding the players – the product of the game – the owners want to have
the major share of the pie themselves.
On Monday, October 10, we all were hoping sense will prevail and the NBA owners will reach a win-win compromise with the players union. But, they inexplicably stuck to their stubbornness and the result was the cancellation of the
first two weeks of the next NBA season.
Then, just when, we the fans, thought that the deal was just around the corner, with George Cohen, the head of Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service having engaged both the parties for a tad under 30 hours in three days, it
all fell apart.
Reason – the NBA owners stuck at the 50-50 Basketball Related Income (BRI) split.
Under the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the players were taking 57 percent of the share, and have already agreed to lower their percentage by 4 percent. However, the owners want the players to make concession
after concession, while on their end; they are not willing to give anything.
NBA is also trying to get a deal that secures it and the franchises. NBA knows that poor franchises decisions at times lead to terrible contracts, which eventually becomes a burden on them. They want to achieve the waiving off
leverage so that they can get rid of such contracts, leaving players with no future security.
And then, they also want hard salary caps, which according to Billy Hunter, the executive director of National Basketball Players Association is a ‘blood issue’. The owners are however not budging from their pre-ordained stance.
In short, the NBA owners are not negotiating with players union, they are bullying them.
However, NBA is unaware of the fact, how lethal a game it is playing.
Everything has a limit and the NBA types are on the cusp of crossing theirs. The longer this drags on, the more NBA will suffer. Fans do love the game but they have other sports to turn to. NFL and MLB are already experiencing
increased ratings and if the money fight between the millionaires and the billionaires continues to linger on, the fans might not want to associate with NBA ever again.
The decision now is theirs to make.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not represent Bettor.com’s editorial policy.
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