Friday, October 22nd, 2010 at 9:00 am  |  92 responses

NBA to Explore Contraction?

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

David Stern went on the offensive yesterday, telling the media that he and the 30 NBA team owners are hell-bent on making the League profitable.

Stern’s goals include the slicing of player salaries and benefits by one-third (the NBA says it spends somewhere in the neighborhood of $2 billion annually on pay for its players), and to make the finances work, the League may consider getting rid of some teams.

CBS Sports reports:

A person with knowledge of the owners’ discussions said the league “will continue to be open to contraction” as a possible mechanism for restoring the league to profitability. The owners’ ongoing talks about competitive balance, profitability and revenue sharing have included the notion of whether teams are operating in “the best available markets,” the person said, and whether reducing the number of teams from the current 30 would help improve the product and the bottom line.

Stern and deputy commissioner Adam Silver spoke after completing two days of meetings with league owners, who are seeking major changes to the current CBA that expires June 30. Silver said the league has told the union that owners are in a “diseconomic situation,” with projected losses of about $340 million to $350 million this season. Even though season ticket sales are up, both insisted that no matter how well the league does at the box office, it won’t change the fact that an overhaul is necessary. “There’s no chance we can change the fundamental economics regardless of our success because it just costs us too much money to generate those sales,” Silver said.

One recurring complaint from fans and media is that the NBA isn’t as competitive today as it used to be, and its rapid expansion over the years is often blamed for this. Perhaps a contraction wouldn’t just be a good thing for its economic health.

And if getting rid of struggling franchises can help avoid a lockout next summer, it’s an option definitely worthy of serious consideration.

  • Add a Comment
  • Share
  • RSS

Tags: , , , ,

← Older Comments
  • Jumper

    So if these terrible teams are pots of gold, whats the reason for the “Loss”?

  • Sparty’s Law

    If the biggest problem is players’ salaries, which it appears to be, then it seems the best remedy would be not to reduce the number of players but to lower the salaries all around. The NBAPA will have to agree to either a league-wide percentage-based paycut or to the implementation of an NFL-like system of no guaranteed contracts which would allow teams to cut players who do nothing except eat up cap space.

  • http://www.twitter.com/JoshElam JE

    If they try to cut teams AND salaries, we’ll have a lockout for more than a season, and start losing legitimate All-Star talent to Europe.

  • Exile

    Cutting Teams is the answer to NOT cutting salaries… Stern is making people aware of options, not saying he wants it all. Besides, this is all going to get uglier before it gets better… so hold on to your hats.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    This is getting stupid, STERN, WE KNOW THE LEAGUE IS AS RICH AS EVER. SHUT UP.

  • http://www.twitter.com/gerardhimself Gerard Himself

    kev: “let’s cut OKC”? Whether or not I agree with Stern, why the hell would you cut OKC of all teams? One of the few teams that gets a full house every night, and one of the teams who will be relevant every single year (barring injuries) in the next decade.

  • Aaron

    The owners want to put all of the risk onto the players with smaller and only partially- guaranteed contracts, thus indemnifying themselves from their own stupidity. The NBPA won’t bend nearly as much as the owners are asking them to, so don’t be surprised if there’s a lockout. How much of the NBA’s reported loss is from running the WNBA?

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    If they cut teams it won’t be more then 4. At most the league would cut, Sac – NOH – Cha – Mem…when really it should be Cleveland (no offense everyone but seriously that team is screwed)

  • LD

    They took our jobs!

  • http://www.need4sheed.com Tarzan Cooper

    Jumper, there is no loss, its fake. Overall, the league makes money by the ton(like c-bo). Owners hide as much money through as many backchannels as possible. Stern is lying and he knows it. Billy hunter knows it. If the league is losing money, then why send teams to europe and china to play games? ……… …. … .Heres somn fun. Lets say an nba arena has 20,000 seats. And lets severely underestimate and say avg cost is 100 a seat. Thats 2mil a game x 41=80mil. And thats a disgusting underestimation. Also factor in merch and food profits. Lets round up to 100 mil a season per team. Multiply that by 30 and you get a steaming pile of lies coming from sterns mouth…………………. ….. …… ….. …. …. … Maybe the owners forgot that they set the market for player salaries. No one else was gonna give darko 20mil, so why did minny? They could have got him for 12… Why did atl max jj? No one else would have. The owners want to make all the money and not have to take responsibility for their own stupid business decisions.

  • Danny J

    Can’t help but laugh at everybody saying the Raptors or Nets should be contracted. Toronto is huge, the team is owned by the second largest sports empire in North America (after the Yankees) and while they struggle to attract/keep talent, contract a few teams and leave players fewer options to run to. Just wait and see how much easier it’s going to be to keep top guys. As for the Nets, did they not just get bought by a Russian Billionaire? And are they not moving into one new arena right now, and possibly another one in the continent’s biggest city in a couple years? Why the hell would you NOT want that?!

  • http://Egotastic.com Michael

    Get rid of the WNBA problem solved.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    they aren’t covering for the WNBA anymore. They are independent like a destiny’s child song

  • feez22

    Contraction is about 1 thing: Money. the secondary and tertiary gains are the infusion of more talent and the lessening of inferior talent. however the NBA isn’t going to cut teams that are actually making money. Portland, Toronto, OKC… all of these teams are making money. why would they need to be contracted. if you want to contract do it to the grizzlies, timberwolves, bobcats… the teams that have dwindling fanbases and are in small markets that don’t make money. btw @tarzan cooper the knicks were ready to max out joe johnson man… don’t you remember? imo they should have just let him go they aren’t winning anything any time soon with the state of the eastern conference but w/e they decided to stay competitive. to do that you need a primary option even if he is more of a secondary guy.

  • http://www.need4sheed.com Tarzan Cooper

    You dont know that nbk. same goes for fez, you dont know knicks would have gave him the max…. Anyways, my larger points stand.

  • TrailBlazing&SportingLisbon

    Gerard Himself, cause that team was plain stolen,they should get the fu(k out, it does not mean Kd and the rest of the young talent would go away

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    Well if the article I read that said the NBA stopped covering for the wnba at the end of 08 beginning of 09 was a lie then yes I don’t know what I’m talking about

  • http://www.youtube.com/officerbarbrady what

    @Sparty’s Law — the list you linked to talks about city populations, not metro area populations. Television markets are all about metro areas. If it was just about cities, Jacksonville and Columbus would have NBA teams while Atlanta and Minneapolis wouldn’t because they have more people within their city’s geographic area. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population

  • http://www.youtube.com/officerbarbrady what

    And although I disagree with Tarzan that nobody else would have maxed out Joe — the Knicks definitely would have, and I think the Nets would have after they missed out on everyone else — he is right that this is ultimately just a ploy by the owners and GMs not to take responsibility for bad decisions. Doesn’t stop it from being a good idea, but I’m not fooled into thinking the owners are doing this for the good of the game. The age limit was instituted for the same reason.

  • ALEX 80

    @ swiftboy DUMBASS !!!!!!!

  • http://www.google.com/news BETCATS

    Why not just make a 1 on 1 league where Kobe plays Lebron and they make 2 cents a game, that costs $59 for the worst seats, while merchandise is sold at rates of $200 for jerseys and $100 for a tee shirt that looks like a jersey! Anything else would be less than profitable for the league and it is in their best interests to do it.

  • Ryan

    Toronto was ranked the second best city to live in north America. People honestly have no clue what they are talking about if they think it’s undesirable lol

  • Jose

    Minnesota, Cleveland….Or ,i have not read all these comments but i assume maybe someone had this idea…Normal regular season and playoff births, but those not in the Actual playoffs play to stay in the L (teams 9-15), Double series elimination;maybe a 5 game series,then the losers play another series to decide who bounces out. itll bring extra cash in too heck..

  • Danny J

    Also just wanna toss out there that Montreal sold out the Bell Center for an exhibition game between the Raptors and Knicks. Viable moving option?

  • http://google c_cantrell

    ^kev..
    cut okc?? what the hell are u thinkin?? do u not realize they are the 2nd best team in the west u moron?? cut okc.. man thats some sh*t dude thats jus some stupid sh*t

  • MBE18

    The competition would be so much better if the league could eliminate 4-6 teams!

  • Clay

    Cut the Kings. Make the league an even 30.

  • http://google c_cantrell

    ^uhh the league is an even 30 dude..

  • http://slamonline.com MVPballer

    Guys, we want Toronto to get cut ’cause they’re a shit team. Not because they don’t make money, that’s probably the one thing the Raps are good at.

  • http://google c_cantrell

    ^MBE18..
    i really do feel that the nba could do without some teams (such as cleveland, minny, goldenstate, new jersey) n yeah i honestly think the competition would be better.. jus look at how it was before the nba added all these expansion teams

  • The Cult of Carlos Cabezas

    Hmmm let me see, there’s a chance to get rid of teams like Minnesota, Memphis & maybe Toronto? I say “What are you waiting for?” —
    I think Stern wants to cut two teams, I say get rid of 4 or 5 teams. Does the NBA really need Golden State in order to survive? No!

    Teams I would cut:
    1. Memphis Grizzlies
    2. Toronto Raptors
    3. Minnesota T-wolves
    4. Golden State Warriors
    5. Washington Wizards

  • http://www.twitter.com/jtrain73 Jono

    I will kill David Stern if he takes away my Denver Nuggets.

  • matt

    already ppl say raps have 2 go, if u lived here you’d know that ppl actually go 2 raps games and watch the games. Teams that should be cut are ones that are doing bad financially, for example, indy, memphis, bobcats, maybe bucks. bucks have chance 2 do well with bjennings, indy maybe. But bobcats and memphis always do deals just 2 cut money. also, don’t be jealous of universal healthcare systems. maybe switch memphis and bobcats 4 montreal and van city.

  • grmike

    “@Swiftboy — where the hell are you getting that from? Greater Toronto has 5.5 million people. Atlanta, the 9th largest metro area in the USA, has 6 million people. How exactly is Toronto the continent’s 4th largest city? Not only are at least 10 metros in the USA bigger, but so is at least one Latin American city (Mexico City).”

    NOT TRUE !! the metro areas in the USA are allowed to cover land areas 10-20 times more than those in Canada. metro Chicago is comparable to the GOLDEN HORSESHOE AREA TORONTO. Toronto (golden horseshoe area) LAND AREA = 30,000 sq kms population = 9 million, Chicago LAND AREA = 30,000 sq kms population = 9.5 million.
    the greater Toronto that you’re comparing to metro Atlanta COVERS 3 TIMES MORE LAND AREA. not a fair comparison AT ALL. It’s like saying NYC has 9 million and Chicago has 9 million so they are the same size without checking the boundaries.

  • grmike

    before comparing metro population of American cities to Canadian cities make sure you understand that there is a big difference in the way both countries define metro area boundaries. In the USA metro areas are the outer limit, the cma, they cover everything in and around the city. Meto cities in Canada are 10-20 times smaller if you want a better comparison check areas defined as Golden Horseshoe Area (would be called metro Toronto if Toronto was in the USA) and green belts. Compare Vancouver Canada (2000 sq km’s) to Denver (25,000 sq km’s). saying they both have the same population does say much at all considering Vancouver has another 2-3 million people around the city within an area of 25,000 sq km’s.

  • Alan Abramowitz

    The hot players go to the richest franchises. It will be L.A., Boston, Miami every year forever. And people in Memphis, Charlotte, Oklahoma City will wake ip one say and realize their times will never play in June and stop coming.

  • k.d.

    All the major sports ought to lose 4-6 teams each. If you got a bunch of teams with less than a .400 winning percentage, that is not good

  • Mz. Preston

    I say cut, Toronto, Charlotte, Detroit, Memphis, LA Clippers, Golden State, Cleveland, and Sacramento, that leaves 22 franchises as opposed to the 30 franchises… 11 teams will represent each conference, it’s a good idea and the 8 teams above are clearly the most weakest markets.

  • Datboywonder

    There needs to exist a criteria for contracting a team. This criteria should not be because you don’t like a city (i.e. its not desirable). It should also not be because a given team currently has a good team.

    I use Oklahoma City as an example. Currently, OKC has a competitive team. Will they have a competitive team 10 years from now, 15 years from now, 20 years from now? What happens when there current nucleus of players (Durant and Westbrook) age out or decide to shop there talents else where to the likes of LA, Boston, Chicago, NYC, and Miami? Will OKC be able to rebuild their franchise and continually court a competitive team? Growing up, I remember Indianapolis used to have a competitive team with Reggie Miller. Charlotte used to have a competitive team with Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning. If you’re going to actually contract teams, all teams must be subject to the same judgement when making the decision. Attendance, Market Size, Regional Growth Projections, Economic Viability etc.

    4 Smallest Markets in the NBA – Metro Population/Growth Rates

    Salt Lake City (1,130,293) Growth Rate (+16.66%)
    New Orleans (1,189,981) Growth Rate (-9.61%)
    Oklahoma City (1,227,278) Growth Rate (+12.04%)
    Memphis (1,304,926) Growth Rate (+8.27%)

    Next 8 Smallest Markets in the NBA

    Milwaukee (1,559,667) Growth Rate (+3.93%)
    Indianapolis (1,743,658) Growth Rate (+14.33%)
    Charlotte (1,745,524) Growth Rate (+31.20%)
    San Antonio (2,072,128) Growth Rate (21.06%)
    Orlando (2,082,421) Growth Rate (26.62%)
    Cleveland (2,091,286) Growth Rate (-2.65%)
    Sacramento (2,127,355) Growth Rate (+18.39%)
    Portland (2,241,841) Growth Rate (+16.29%)

    Attendance is a tricky statistic to measure. Sometimes attendance is a direct result of the product being put on the court. Bad Teams have bad attendance. Sometimes attendance is a result of a historical apathetic fan base. Some cities inherently aren’t passionate sports towns like others.

    If I had to contract four teams I would contract the following:

    New Orleans
    Memphis
    Milwaukee
    Indianapolis

  • Najee12

    Realistically, if there is contraction it will be two teams. IMO, take out the two teams whose loss will be the least invasive to the NBA’s history. To me, that would be the Los Angeles Clippers and Toronto.

    The Clippers are obvious: arguably the worst franchise in sports the past 30 years. Only four playoff appearances since moving out to southern California. The only signature player to come from that franchise was Bob McAdoo, and that was when it was the Buffalo Braves. A long history of failed high draft picks, veterans whose careers were derailed there, talented young players who suffered major injuries — you name it, that franchise is cursed.

    And to top it off, a notoriously cheap owner who wouldn’t have been an owner if it wasn’t for the Lakers’ owner (who allows the Clippers to share space at the Staples Center because the Clippers owner is too cheap to get his own place) AND has had federal housing discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuits against him. Not to mention the only way Donald Sterling will part with the franchise is death, and he owns the Clippers only for tax considerations.

    For Toronto, it’s largely a train depot for players who plan to leave. The players are getting taxed from both the United States and Canada. Really, not a whole lot of team success (five playoff seasons in 16 years, no more than 47 wins in a season). The two signature players — Vince Carter and Chris Bosh — left and the team got virtually nothing for them.

    From there, relocate several teams. Allow the NBA to transfer Michael Jordan’s ownership from the Bobcats to the Hornets and bring the Hornets back to Charlotte.

    And let’s give some new markets a shot, and revisit another familiar market — Seattle.

    1.) Relocate the Bobcats to Cincinnati or Louisville, Ky.

    2.)Allow the Maloof brothers to move the Kings from Sacramento to Las Vegas.

    3.) Relocate the Grizzlies from Memphis to Seattle.

    4.) Allow the Warriors’ new management to move the team from Oakland to San Francisco or San Joe.

  • DavezZ

    Toronto has money end of story. That’s all you need to know. When their good, it’s gonna change some of the haters to fans. I don’t give a shiit what happens to any teams except the raps because I know things are about to change for the Toronto Raptors. They have a lot of fans and their not just in Canada.

  • Renaldo

    Most people on this site couldn’t even afford to live in Toronto let alone travel their. I think many people think their because Raptors are not on american tv that they must not make money. Go to forbes with is run by American and see the value of the raptors compare to teams you think have value. One thing tha make sense is Dollars and if you are not making it then stop trying to find way to put down those city that can. Players may not want to stay in Toronto but because our front row seat go for about 1000 they need to collect a check somewhere. m

← Older Comments
Advertisement
Counterkicks