The Littlest Commish is talking big. David Stern spun reporters yesterday during a con-call, claiming the economic slowdown will only have a minor impact on the NBA:
Even with the current financial crisis, he said the NBA sold out four preseason games in Europe and two in China earlier this month, and doesn’t expect the economic slowdown to have any real affect on the league’s overseas plans.
“We don’t think that that’s going to impact us in any harsh or painful way other than perhaps our rate of growth,” he said. “But growth it will be.”
Really? Let’s check out those “sold out” China games a little more closely. Stern may be shocked that we can, via China Daily:
According to a public poll by leading Internet portal Sina.com, 34 percent of respondents paid no attention to the games. For those who bought tickets or watched on TV, 26 percent described the games as “boring”, 23 percent bemoaned the lack of Chinese players and only 17 percent commented positively on the experience.
Some local media even went so far as to dub them the “Three No’s”, referring to the lack of stars, Chinese players and ultimately, the lack of significance. … many media seats in Guangzhou were embarrassingly empty last Wednesday and even scalpers suffered as ticket prices nosedived from 2,800 yuan ($410) to 500 yuan ($73)on the black market.
While enthusiasm for Saturday’s Beijing game was higher, fans refused to pay over the odds and scalpers ended up having to part with VIP tickets for as little as 10 percent of their face value.
This is David Stern’s great market for the NBA, where he has overpriced his product by almost 100 percent. What does the price of hoops in China have to do with Charlotte? Plenty.
The Bobjohnsons just wrapped an 0-fer preseason, falling last night to a Kobe-less Laker team in an ugly, unwatchable game that featured 45 turnovers. The Bobcat business plan, to the extent one might exist, is to watch coach Larry Brown flog this bunch into the playoffs. Profit. Right now, with this roster, there is approximately zero chance this happens.
Worse, once again this year the Bobcats’ sked is heavily front-loaded with home games. CLT is only on the road five times before December. A slow start would dig a mighty hole both in the standings and in the business bottom-line. Combine these factors with the smoldering crater that is Uptown’s financial sector, and you have the perfect storm to kill the franchise outright.
Not roll it up and move it, mind you. Not Bob Johnson sells out. Kill it dead just like the late, unlamented Charlotte Sting. Stern and the NBA money-men really, really think that the future is in Europe and in Asia. Why would they go out of their way to prop up failing small-market NBA teams in the States in second-tier cities like Charlotte, Memphis, or Orlando? That’s my spin, anyway.
