It's a difficult time to be a sports fan. The owners of the National Football League are currently locking out their players in an effort to secure a greater share of future league revenues. The owners of the National Basketball Association are almost guaranteed to do the same this coming July following the expiration of their Collective Bargaining Agreement. To combat the NFL owners' lockout, the NFL players have dissolved their union and sued the League for federal antitrust violations. The litigation is expected to take months to resolve, and there's a very real possibility that NFL and NBA games and perhaps entire seasons might be cancelled.
Both disputes are incredibly and increasingly complicated, and it's difficult to muster much sympathy for either side in a money squabble between millionaires and billionaires. These financial battles are far more likely to be solved in a timely manner, however, if public support actively backs one side and pressures the other to compromise. After sifting through the murky details of these conflicts, it is clear that fans should support the players in the NFL lockout and the owners in the coming NBA lockout.
The NFL is currently at its apex as an entertainment brand. The last two Super Bowls have scored record ratings. Fans flock to (mostly) publicly financed stadiums even in terrible weather in markets small and large across the country. The league enjoys true competitive balance that eludes its rivals. Office gambling pools and fantasy football drive ratings. Finally, and most stunning of all, the League generated $9 billion in revenue last year. Truly, the NFL is the picture of health.
Yet, amidst all of this compelling evidence that the NFL is doing obscenely well, NFL owners are demanding a $1-billion-per-year give back from the players as an expense credit to offset "declining revenue." To add insult to injury, the owners want the players to play two extra games per year at these reduced rates. When asked by the players to provide full financial data to justify their claims, they have doggedly refused. In light of their extensive planning for the lockout, this behavior seems to suggest that their cries of poverty are bogus, and that they are really just trying to bilk the bad economy into a huge payday. Fans nationwide should excoriate them for their ridiculous greed.
The situation is the complete reverse in the NBA, which reports losing as much as $400 million in recent years, and as many as 27 of the 30 teams might be losing money. Avid basketball fans notice that in many markets, players play to half-empty arenas and listless crowds. The NBA is not even remotely competitively balanced, with a few great teams and many awful ones.
This financial weakness is exacerbated by the lavish guarantees afforded to NBA players. In contrast to the NFL, where contracts are only partially guaranteed and underperforming players can be cut, NBA players are guaranteed 100 percent of the money they signed for, regardless of any declines in their health and effectiveness. When players like Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady or Michael Redd get signed to mega-million dollar deals and then suffer catastrophic, career-changing injuries, their franchises are doomed to mediocrity for the life of those deals. When players like Eddie Curry or Baron Davis sign for big money and then decide to get fat and lazy, teams are similarly up the proverbial creek.
Clearly, in light of the NBA's poor financial health and the general absurdity of the current player compensation system, the players need to accept dramatic cutbacks for basketball to be viable. They've had the better end of the stick since the framework of this current deal came about in the late '90s, and it's time for the pendulum to swing back the other way for a while.
The NFL's compensation system is not broken and the owners need to realize that before they cause lasting damage to their brand and inflict needless suffering on their fans. The NBA's financial system is broken and the players need accept cuts to protect the future of their livelihoods. American sports fans should pillory both parties with vocal and public displeasure and a refusal to purchase their products until they put aside their greed and short-sightedness. Fans simply must not stand for their cherished entertainment products being crushed in such petty squabbles.
