[llperez]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=coon_larry&page=lockout-100922

just got done reading this article posted today on espn. Its kinda long so here some cliff note points made by both sides.

Players side:

-the 2009-10 season saw the greatest profit in league history.

-the players are gauranteed to make no more then 57% of gross profit so they are limited in hiw much they can get and the owners have some security.

-the owners are throwing money around like crazy as evidenced by this off-season and why should the players take a hit becasue the owners cant stop themselves from spending money that no one is forcing them to spend.

-the proposed offer from the league was far too drastic a change and they think things like hard caps with no exceptions would not only hurt the players but the teams as well since they would be limited in keepingplayers and putting together a competitive roster.

-the players think that a large majority of the leagues supposed losses are as a result of owners taking out loans and the interest that comes with those loans as well as the overall depreciation of franchise value due to the economy. The players feel like these are costs the owners bring on themselves and just like the players dont benefit when a team sold or gains in value, they should not be held accountable when the team losses value or the owners suffer costs from when they originally bought the team.

owners side:

-teams lost 370 million dollars last season and had averaged 200 mill in losses each of the 4 seasons prior.

-while the players only make 57%, thats 57% of GROSS revenue(before costs). The 43% the owners keep then has to pay for all costs such as marketing and running the franchise. Owners want the players to make a % of the NET revenue(after expenses are factored in) to keep things fair.

-an independent third party concluded that the leagues losses are very real and that 12 of 30 teams lost money in 2008-09 season.

-league says that owners continue to spend becasue they are basically 30 individual companies competing against each other and that this model benefits both players and fans but not the owners and thus changes need to be made to protect themselves from outbidding each other and overpaying.

-stern suggest that surely a system where both players and all owners can make money is the most fair and neccessary.

-the league has been very open with the players association providing every piece of paperwork they have requested to prove financial losses.

Some other notes are that as of now the two sides appear to be very far apart and the proposals the two sides are making are drastically different. It is widely known and understood by all sides that the owners have a huge advantage if a lockout does indeed take place and that the players will most likely be the first to budge if an entire season or more is lost.

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

Good article. Of course the owners are full of it. They are loosing so much money and doing so poorly, huh? When was the last time a team went out of business? Basically never. Name another industry where none of 30 companies ever go out of business? Take a look at the recent sale fo the Golden State Warriors. Nearly a decade of incompetence and bad luck and the owner could still sell the franchise for a huge profit. Yeah, there was a huge recession and the value of your franchises might have gone down (we don’t really know for sure as you only really know value when a sale occurs and the only data point is the Golden State Warrrior sale this year, which was for a big profit). But guess what lots of people’s investments go down in a recession.

The owners are just looking to have the game rigged so much in their favor that the most incompetent and small market team can still make a profit, year after year and even in a terrible recession. That is just bull. Of course, why should I care if the players make more and more money. I don’t really. But I think the principal of free market economies is on their side.

The players have to start developing an alternative league to give themselves some leverage during the lockout (and give me something to watch). Otherwise they will take another big hit. That league or maybe just a collection of special events should have winner take all prize money for each game to make sure the games are competitive right away and exciting and meaningful to the fans. If they could get 5 to 10 nationally televised games per week going (maybe with a network that doesn’t get any NBA games right now), it would help the players a lot with the negotiations.

[andxxxParticipant]

I don’t know why the owners are mad at an issue they brought to themselves noone is forcing them to pay players more than there value that’s a choice.  The article also said something about the current system being more of an advantage to the fans and the players, well if I didn’t know any better I would’ve thought the players actually played the game and the fans are spending money on these games that benefit both the players and the fans.  It should be all about whats best for fans first, then players, and finally the owners

It seems like the owners in the two major sports basketball and football are getting too greedy and want whats best for them and not the fans or the players.  To give an example a poll was put on ESPN for fans in favor of an 18 game season in the NFL most fans wanted to keep it the way it is now.  It shows the owners don’t really care about the players or more importantly the fans they care about anything that gets them the most money.

[llperez]

i just dont want to see another lockout regardless of what the end result is with how they split up all the money.

[boxn1Participant]

 I say this with confidence because I just saw what happen to the NHL with a hard cap, the Blackhawks just won a championship,and had to let their starting goalie go because signing him would take them over the cap. Just imagine the lakers losing Gasol because of the cap??? Or possibly having to dismantle the Heat because of the hard cap.

[dahoodrecruiterParticipant]

OWNERS AND PLAYERS GET THIS THING RIGHT….AS A FAN OF THE NBA I DONT WANNA SEE NO LOCKOUT..PRETTY SURE NO1 DOES……..

 

PLAYER AND OWNERS NEDD A BIG SLICE OF HUMBLE PIE…PLAYERS ARE WAY OVERPAID AND OWNERS ARE MAKING TO MUCH DANG MONEY FOR A SIMPLE THING LIKE BASKETBALL………..

[Demarcus OnealParticipant]

what would happen if both the NBA and NFL lockoed out it would be 2012

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