The NBA's sword of Damocles

 
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Wilkes52
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 4:47 am    Post subject: The NBA's sword of Damocles

The new cap room hangs over the league's fans like a death sentence.

When a player such as Tyler Johnson inks a four year $50M deal (!), I am reminded to say that the dollars are real. When a player like Russell Westbrook is set up for a max deal in the neighborhood of, well, the price of a small island in Greece, I shudder.

Somewhere down the line, this league and its fans will suffer from this,I am convinced. The making of so many deals this size for such nondescript and starring talent is gonna hurt a lot of people. This money isn't coming from nowhere. It will come out eventually of the paying public's pockets. Salary inflation, instantly. Revenue must match it.

I dread seeing the day (very soon) that the next few wave of price adjustments are made to pay for the inflation. Picture our viewing rights packages (more tiers and ads too), gate tickets, fan gear and on-site food. Up, up, up, UP ! Good gawd, this is gonna be ugly.
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venturalakersfan
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 9:02 am    Post subject:

The money comes from TV rights. As long as people watch, companies will advertise and the networks will continue to pay.
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yinoma2001
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 9:44 am    Post subject:

I wonder if ESPN will regret its decision to pay that much for NBA content. ESPN is struggling right now...
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 11:23 am    Post subject:

venturalakersfan wrote:
The money comes from TV rights. As long as people watch, companies will advertise and the networks will continue to pay.


The main problem with that is that we have a whole generation of people reaching adulthood that watch much less traditional network or cable TV and instead use other sources for video entertainment such as Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, etc... Modern TVs have internet connections now with access to apps and these other sources.

So far sports are one of the big things keeping some people on traditional TV, but how long can that last?
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activeverb
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 7:05 pm    Post subject: Re: The NBA's sword of Damocles

Wilkes52 wrote:
The new cap room hangs over the league's fans like a death sentence.

When a player such as Tyler Johnson inks a four year $50M deal (!), I am reminded to say that the dollars are real. When a player like Russell Westbrook is set up for a max deal in the neighborhood of, well, the price of a small island in Greece, I shudder.

Somewhere down the line, this league and its fans will suffer from this,I am convinced. The making of so many deals this size for such nondescript and starring talent is gonna hurt a lot of people. This money isn't coming from nowhere. It will come out eventually of the paying public's pockets. Salary inflation, instantly. Revenue must match it.

I dread seeing the day (very soon) that the next few wave of price adjustments are made to pay for the inflation. Picture our viewing rights packages (more tiers and ads too), gate tickets, fan gear and on-site food. Up, up, up, UP ! Good gawd, this is gonna be ugly.


Eh. Prices will keep going up as long as people are willing to pay them, same as always. That's really secondary to what's bothering people right now. The cap jumped so dramatically, that tons of money is available this year and OK players who have the luck of being free agents are benefiting. That will sort itself out over the next couple of years.
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venturalakersfan
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 7:31 pm    Post subject:

Reflexx wrote:
venturalakersfan wrote:
The money comes from TV rights. As long as people watch, companies will advertise and the networks will continue to pay.


The main problem with that is that we have a whole generation of people reaching adulthood that watch much less traditional network or cable TV and instead use other sources for video entertainment such as Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, etc... Modern TVs have internet connections now with access to apps and these other sources.

So far sports are one of the big things keeping some people on traditional TV, but how long can that last?


For the NFL, probably forever. The top 10 rated TV shows last year were NFL playoff games. But you are correct, my kids hardly ever watch sports on TV.
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jonnybravo
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:22 pm    Post subject:

yinoma2001 wrote:
I wonder if ESPN will regret its decision to pay that much for NBA content. ESPN is struggling right now...


I'll say TWC is regretting the Dodger's package that's for sure. They paid more than double what the Lakers deal was and the Dodger's channel is unavailable for the vast majority of Southern Californians. It's a tale being replayed all over the place. The Rockets and Trailblazers telecasts were unavailable in their local regions for the longest time as well (not sure what their current status is). A lot of these content providers are grossly overestimating how much the public desires to watch these games. The Lakers' fan base raising a collective ruckus to have them appear on everyone's cable/directv provider is an exception not the rule.
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Wino
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 4:26 pm    Post subject:

jonnybravo wrote:
yinoma2001 wrote:
I wonder if ESPN will regret its decision to pay that much for NBA content. ESPN is struggling right now...


I'll say TWC is regretting the Dodger's package that's for sure. They paid more than double what the Lakers deal was and the Dodger's channel is unavailable for the vast majority of Southern Californians. It's a tale being replayed all over the place. The Rockets and Trailblazers telecasts were unavailable in their local regions for the longest time as well (not sure what their current status is). A lot of these content providers are grossly overestimating how much the public desires to watch these games. The Lakers' fan base raising a collective ruckus to have them appear on everyone's cable/directv provider is an exception not the rule.


I'm in San Diego and would have enjoyed watching the Dodgers, but the Padres have the regional rights and chose to block them. Unfortunately all the Padres want to do is sell hot dogs. They seem to relish the role of developing talent and then selling it off to other teams. Hard to support a team that rarely keeps it's players to allow you to become a real fan.

But I would have loved watching Kershaw, etc. the last couple of years but without that opportunity I have pretty much given up on MLB, never watch it, rarely even think about it.
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 8:58 am    Post subject:

Wino wrote:
jonnybravo wrote:
yinoma2001 wrote:
I wonder if ESPN will regret its decision to pay that much for NBA content. ESPN is struggling right now...


I'll say TWC is regretting the Dodger's package that's for sure. They paid more than double what the Lakers deal was and the Dodger's channel is unavailable for the vast majority of Southern Californians. It's a tale being replayed all over the place. The Rockets and Trailblazers telecasts were unavailable in their local regions for the longest time as well (not sure what their current status is). A lot of these content providers are grossly overestimating how much the public desires to watch these games. The Lakers' fan base raising a collective ruckus to have them appear on everyone's cable/directv provider is an exception not the rule.


I'm in San Diego and would have enjoyed watching the Dodgers, but the Padres have the regional rights and chose to block them. Unfortunately all the Padres want to do is sell hot dogs. They seem to relish the role of developing talent and then selling it off to other teams. Hard to support a team that rarely keeps it's players to allow you to become a real fan.

But I would have loved watching Kershaw, etc. the last couple of years but without that opportunity I have pretty much given up on MLB, never watch it, rarely even think about it.


Agreed completely re: the Padres. They've been a community laughingstock for so long, but I have to admit that they fooled me last year. I actually thought they had turned the corner re: ownership/management willingness to spend $$$. What a ruse! If I had known their time horizon for results was one season before pulling the plug, I would never have given the offseason moves a second thought. Fortunately, I didn't submit to the urge for season tickets again.

Varsity organizations don't operate like the pikers we've had down here on the MLB side for far too long. Observe how much runway winning organizations provide for their teams (in any amateur or professional sport) ... invariably, it won't be one season. It's definitely a capitalization issue, as I don't think the owners after the Kroc family had enough walking-around $$$ to really compete with larger market teams. But another part is the mentality ... when you make moves that reflect management ready to capitulate at the slightest sign of backslide and you operate upon a feeble financial foundation, it's little surprise that your fanbase is exasperated every (bleep) season.

A.J. Preller isn't going to get the job done, either. The Padres (and many other MLB teams) think the next Theo Epstein is right around the corner. But more often than not, it's just another kid. Hoyer, Byrnes and Preller are all riding the Epstein wave to shore. But they're not paddling out again on their own ...
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Wilkes52
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 8:04 am    Post subject:

venturalakersfan wrote:
The money comes from TV rights. As long as people watch, companies will advertise and the networks will continue to pay.


Correction. The money comes from the TV rights, via your pocket and mine. Are you looking forward to the imminent price hikes and viewing package juggling that's going to fund this pipeline ? Not me. Get ready for the consumer wallet rape.
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