Tyler Cowen and Kevin Grier are both economists. They are also both basketball fans. What do the owners have to lose? Net revenues from the lost games and any decline in the value of their franchises due to fan alienation and depreciation of assets — namely the players they have under contract. What do players have to lose? Salaries from lost games and time cut off from already short career windows.
Why do owners have leverage? They have deeper pockets and alternative sources of income. Why do players have leverage? Only a handful of star players have leverage. Rank-and-file players are more easily replaced and have almost no leverage at all. Why are labor disputes in sports so weird?
The bosses control the whole sector and face little competition when it comes to hiring labor. What does this mean? The fact of the matter is that owning an NBA team is far more about ego than investment, so the argument that we should care how well they are doing financially just doesn't hold any water.
No one is forcing anyone to buy an NBA team, and every time one sells there is no shortage of people willing to step up and buy one. Part of what made the NFL lockout powerful for the owners was that they were the only game in town. Many have foreign deals already lined up, and more are sure to follow as time passes. They can make big money playing abroad, and they can sell more of their shoes and expand their brands at the same time.
There won't be nearly the desperation from the players, and they don't feel a lot of incentive to give up what they already have, so leverage—a key factor in a lockout—is in short supply.
The one good thing about the NFL lockout was that it really felt like if they got things taken care of this time they would be tying up a long-term deal.
It also felt like it was okay to be doing this overhaul because it had been a while. The NBA has been through these labor issues, lockouts and cancelled games before, and it doesn't feel like they learned anything. They have a salary cap that is essentially meaningless, the league is no better established than they were last time around and the arguments and complaints from both sides seem eerily similar.
Enjoy our content? Join our newsletter to get the latest in sports news delivered straight to your inbox! Your sports. Join Newsletter. There was only one league for them and that was the NFL. They can play ball across the country or go overseas. With YouTube and pay-per-view services, fans can still get their basketball fix.
They have their outlets and a lot of them are already participating. It seems our favorite ballers already know the lockout is here to stay and moved on to other endeavors for now. Enjoy our content? Join our newsletter to get the latest in sports news delivered straight to your inbox!
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