Forbes is back with its latest look at the business of basketball and once again Charlotte’s NBA franchise is lagging.
The magazine pegs the value of the team at $287 million, up slightly from last year and good for 25th in the 30-team league. So that’s good news? Not if you dig deeper.
The team cannot find paying customers. Operating income actually fell 58 percent to $5.3 million. Revenue was a paltry $93 million — also 25th in the league — with gate receipts of only $23 million. The continued low, low payroll cost of $42 million remains a key factor in keeping the Bobcats’ balance sheet from turning completely red. Even George Shinn manages to spend $58 million on players, with $60 million closer to the minimum needed to support most playoff contenders.
When you widen out, things look dire. Bob Johnson spent $300 million on the franchise, the city of Charlotte hocked the jail and other city property, issued COPs worth $265 million to build him an arena, and gave Johnson a sweetheart deal to run it. Johnson bungled his local broadcast rights — some cable mogul, huh? — with the C-SET mess and amazingly has never found a naming-rights sponsor for the city-built building.
There has been repeated, roiling turnover at the top of the Bobcats’ business operation only stabilized with an infusion of NBA league office input and veterans. The great Michael Jordan as basketball czar fix has not yet had a meaningful impact on wins and losses while the business of player signings has only grown more mysterious. Last week’s offer-sheet flyer on Cavs holdout Anderson Varejao smacked of desperation — or some sort of insider agent-stroking usually reserved for free-spending outfits.
As we noted the other day, the Bobcats seem headed toward another year in lotto-ville rather than the playoffs — and the losing will not grow the fan base. The kicker, however, is that fully one-third of the teams in the league lost money according to Forbes. Now if you are Mark Cuban — or another indifferent billionaire owner — that does not matter. But it does matter if you are trying run a sustainable pro basketball league.
David Stern has to know that his league is flirting with going NHL. Slipping from the ranks of major sports to almost a niche product. Forget about this year being a make-or-break year for the Bobcats. Everybody knows that.
Is this a make-or-break year for the NBA?
