Stern projects $400 million in losses for the NBA

Mr. Sun · Post #1 » by **Mr. Sun** » Sun Feb 14, 2010 4:13 am

DALLAS -- David Stern said Saturday the NBA is projecting league-wide losses of about $400 million this season and has lost hundreds of millions in each previous year of the current collective bargaining agreement.

The commissioner said it has shown the players' association those numbers in hopes of demonstrating why the league feels it needs "significant changes" in the next deal.

The NBA's first proposal for a deal to replace the one that expires on July 1, 2011, was thrown out Friday after what players association director Billy Hunter called a "contentious" 90-minute meeting. Hunter said the proposal called for harsh changes that would affect every NBA player.

"The right adjectives were thrown around, and our proposal appropriately denounced. Our response is, 'You can denounce it, tear it up, you can burn it, you can jump up and down on it, as long as you understand that it reflects the financial realities of where we are," Stern said during his annual All-Star press conference.

"And if you would like to have your own proposal, as long as it comes back and deals with our financial realities, that's OK with us. That's fine with us. In fact, that's what we would like to do."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4912384

cold5 · Post #2 » by **cold5** » Sun Feb 14, 2010 4:22 am

Mr. Sun wrote:DALLAS -- David Stern said Saturday the NBA is projecting league-wide losses of about $400 million this season and has lost hundreds of millions in each previous year of the current collective bargaining agreement.

The commissioner said it has shown the players' association those numbers in hopes of demonstrating why the league feels it needs "significant changes" in the next deal.

The NBA's first proposal for a deal to replace the one that expires on July 1, 2011, was thrown out Friday after what players association director Billy Hunter called a "contentious" 90-minute meeting. Hunter said the proposal called for harsh changes that would affect every NBA player.

"The right adjectives were thrown around, and our proposal appropriately denounced. Our response is, 'You can denounce it, tear it up, you can burn it, you can jump up and down on it, as long as you understand that it reflects the financial realities of where we are," Stern said during his annual All-Star press conference.

"And if you would like to have your own proposal, as long as it comes back and deals with our financial realities, that's OK with us. That's fine with us. In fact, that's what we would like to do."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4912384

Maybe if the NBA would stop spending so much on extra stadium crap or other stuff that Stern so loves, the league wouldn't be in this deep.

RaisingArizona · Post #3 » by **RaisingArizona** » Sun Feb 14, 2010 4:28 am

good, screw you stern.

phx#7 · Post #4 » by **phx#7** » Sun Feb 14, 2010 4:31 am

Stern will recoup the losses by betting on playoff games.

Post #5 » by **Miklo** » Sun Feb 14, 2010 4:58 am

He's just talking crap to warm up for the negotiations.

Plus, for the entire NBA losing 400 mil is a drop in the bucket

raff · Post #6 » by **raff** » Sun Feb 14, 2010 5:23 am

Miklo wrote:He's just talking crap to warm up for the negotiations.

Yeah I had this feeling too...should be interesting to see what happens with these negotiations.

Post #7 » by **Qwigglez** » Sun Feb 14, 2010 3:59 pm

Players still need to take a paycut IMO.

JohnVancouver · Post #8 » by **JohnVancouver** » Sun Feb 14, 2010 8:00 pm

Qwigglez wrote:Players still need to take a paycut IMO.

Need to tie the player's wages to profits in some form of partnership - almost impossible to figure how to do that. How much does LBJ get and how much does Taylor Griffin get?

But some form of equitable sharing of the good or bad makes sense.

sunsbum · Post #9 » by **sunsbum** » Mon Feb 15, 2010 1:25 am

Gee, I wonder why the NBA is so far in debt... Couldnt have anything to do with spending WAY too much money on all star festivities for instance. IE paying usher and everything that comes with this stupid light show. cry me a river this is so over the top and NOT necessary.

eljayyyyyyyyyy · Post #10 » by **eljayyyyyyyyyy** » Mon Feb 15, 2010 5:04 am

im not surprised the way rules are proposed and enforced; and the way allstar weekend selection system is screwed up. probably the only thing that is number one is salaries.

Post #11 » by **Miklo** » Mon Feb 15, 2010 5:26 am

JohnVancouver wrote:
Qwigglez wrote:Players still need to take a paycut IMO.

Need to tie the player's wages to profits in some form of partnership - almost impossible to figure how to do that. How much does LBJ get and how much does Taylor Griffin get?

But some form of equitable sharing of the good or bad makes sense.

You may have the start of something there, but the risk with that is once you bring franchise performance metrics, especially profit, into play you are mixing player performance with potentially bad ownership. Getting signed/traded to somewhere with crappy management and low budget would be a career death sentence.

I think you'd have to make sure to tie wages to metrics that the player has some control over. Wins, statistics, etc.

Dry_Fish · Post #12 » by **Dry_Fish** » Mon Feb 15, 2010 5:32 pm

The NBA product has been pretty crappy the last few years (not sure if my opinion corresponds to the suns going downhill) and I have cut back my NBA related spending. My biggest beef is the guarantee contract. It cripples a team salary wise and some guys just don't even try. The NFL has it right (not sure if my opinion corresponds to the Cards going uphill) and you never hear about guys mailing it in.