In the American economy, capitalism is at the root of every major market; markets such as the textiles, healthcare, utilities, and sports entertainment. Professional basketball is a huge industry in the United States that many corporations and sports-lovers spend money on to watch and endorse. Devastating to many of the fans, the National Basketball Association (NBA) went into a lockout in 2011 because of the many economic issues that the league had been experiencing in the previous years. During a lockout, players cannot play, teams are not allowed to trade, sign or contact players, and many players do not get paid and cannot access NBA team facilities or staff. The 2011 NBA lockout was the fourth lockout in NBA history. The 2011 lockout started on July 1, 2011, and ended December 8, 2011, delaying the start of the NBA season by almost two months. Although many critics would argue that the 2011 NBA lockout was caused by the team owners’ greed and the professional players’ unwillingness to compromise, the main and most unbiased causes of the 2011 lockout were the expiration of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that was set in 2005 and the great recession of 2007. Nonetheless, the team owners’ greed and the professional players’ reluctance to negotiate clashed and prolonged the NBA lockout period.
In order for one to clearly understand the causes of the 2011 NBA lockout, we must first identify the implications of previous CBA contracts and negotiations. The previous National Basketball Association lockout in 1998 reduced the 1998-1999 NBA season by 32 games, from 82 to 50. However, the owners and players eventually came to an agreement and a new six-year collective bargaining agreement was accepted. The six year co...
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...ons that it would have on the sport. Given the financial hardships that the National Basketball Association was experiencing and the massive impact that the great recession had on the U.S. industries, it goes without say that the recession of 2007 changed the economics of the NBA and called for many financial reforms that would cause controversy among the team owners and the players; thus, leading to the NBA lockout of 2011.
Works Cited
Joshua. “What Caused the NBA Lockout.” Bettingbasketball.org. 11 Oct. 2011. Web. 16 Feb. 2012.
Parlow, Matthew J., “The NBA and The Great Recession: Implications For the Upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement Renegotiation.” Journals-College of Law. Depaul University, 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2012.
Zegers, Charlie. “NBA Lockout 101: the issues, the arguments, and the NBA’s uncertain future.” About.com. 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2012
more calls in their favor i.e. more trips to the free throw line and less foul calls against these players. The end results of this treatment of favorite players would be more points per games, greater stats, winning more games, winning championships and more endorsements with greater financial gain. The adverse effect would occur for the least favorite players, this institutionally allowed bias would and can affect the lives and futures of players by depriving the players of the NBA the right to determine their individual success or failure according to their athletic efforts and skills. Fifth issue: The NBA facing fines and penalties from the federal government. Tim Donaghy’s actions were in connection with organized crime and if the FBI
Spendthrift, the perfect connotation of Major League Baseball’s (MLB) economy and how any one team can dominate free agency and the player market. As long as they are financially superior to the rest of the league, they will remain on the upper edge of talent. Unlike the other three major sports leagues (NFL, NHL, NBA,) the MLB presents one key underlying feature…the lack of a salary cap. A salary cap, or lack of salary cap in any sport, can do one of two important things: create parity, or create Darwinism amongst small market teams. If a salary cap is to exist in baseball, a sense of parity may arise leaving all teams with equal chances of landing big name free agents.
As long has there has been business, Management and Labor have warred against each other for a bigger piece of the pie. Major League Baseball is no different. In the early years of professional baseball the owners controlled the salaries of the players and decided where they could play and what they would be paid. The players were bound to their team by the Reserve Clause that stated, the services of a player will be reserved exclusively for that team for the next season. This resulted in keeping the player’s salaries artificially low because the players were not allowed to offer their services to any other team. The Reserve Clause was in effect for more than One Hundred years of baseball history. It was challenged several times but the owners had won every time, until in 1970 when the St. Louis Cardinals traded outfielder Curt Flood to the Philadelphia Phillies. Flood refused to play for the Phillies and sued to become a free-agent. Flood’s case was in court for several years going all the way to the Supreme Court. He was never able to play in the Major League again. While he did not win his case, he laid the groundwork for a later case that involved two pitchers, Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally who filed a grievance against the league contending that, because they didn't sign contracts with their previous teams they were free agents. The owners and the Players Association agreed to submit to binding, impartial, arbitration in order to settle this case. On December 23, 1975 the arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled in favor of the players and the Reserve Clause was broken, and the era of free agency began in the Major Leagues. In 1976 when free agency began the average player salary was only $52 thousand dollars, but it has increased steadily ever since. By 1990 the average salary for a Major League Baseball player had risen to $589 thousand dollars. This Year baseball will start the 2001 season with an average player salary of more than $2 million, about 40 times higher than the typical wage in 1976 when free agency began.
The 1994-95 baseball strike was the fourth strike in 22 years and has been known as the worst strike in sports history. The major impact was approximately 948 games canceled along with the World Series resulting in millions of dollars lost. Team owners proposed a salary cap agreement to the players due to difficult financial situations the league was experiencing. The owners said that teams needed to share broadcasting revenues to make it equal amongst the teams to prevent market clubs from falling. This meant that smaller teams would not lose their bigger players to teams that c...
In the last ten years many young and talented high school basketball players have chosen to enter the NBA draft. These 17 and 18 year olds decide to skip college, and instead they choose to take a big risk and enter the NBA, hoping to become stars and earn millions of dollars. In many cases, these youngsters’ careers are a failure because they don’t turn out as talented as they thought to be. They end up spending only a few seasons in the NBA because they are not good enough to compete at that level. Many of them have to move on to doing other things, such as playing basketball overseas, doing everyday jobs, or going back to college to earn a degree.
When looking into the history of our culture, there are many subtopics that fall under the word, “history.” Topics such as arts and literature, food, and media fall into place. Among these topics reside sports. Since the beginning of time, sports have persisted as an activity intertwined with the daily life of people. Whether it is a pick-up game of football in the backyard, or catching an evening game at the local stadium, sports have become the national pastime. According to Marcus Jansen of the Sign Post, more specifically, baseball is America’s national pastime, competing with other sports (Jansen 1). Providing the entertainment that Americans pay top dollar for, live the role models, superstars, and celebrities that put on a jersey as their job. As said in an article by Lucas Reilly, Americans spend close to $25.4 billion dollars on professional sports (Reilly 4). The people that many children want to be when they grow up are not the firefighters or astronauts told about in bed time stories. These dream jobs or fantasies have become swinging a bat or tossing a football in front of millions of screaming fans. When asked why so many dream of having such job, the majority will respond with a salary related answer. In today’s day and age, the average athlete is paid more than our own president. The cold hard facts show that in professional sports, the circulation of money is endless. Certain teams in professional baseball and football are worth over millions of dollars. Consequently, the teams who are worth more are able to spend more. The issue that arises with this philosophy is virtually how much more? League managers, team owners and other sports officials have sought out a solution to the surfacing problem. Is it fair to let...
As surprising as it may be to those who are not themselves fans of the National Basketball Association, Anglo-Americans are vastly outnumbered by other ethnicities. In fact, African-Americans hold a majority of positions, command higher average salaries, and receive more attention for their accomplishments in the media. Although there are a number of Anglo-Americans employed by the NBA, few ever manage to obtain equality in the field. For example, the position of team owner, frequently held by Anglo-Americans, carries with it a much lower salary and far less prestige than would be expected. Even though the owner is technically responsible in one way or another for almost every aspect of team performance, he often receives less compensation for his hard work than many African-Americans who hold such positions as center and point guard. Clearly, this skewed system of rewards is the result of long standing prejudices against Anglo-Americans.
How many of you sports fans out there are sick of paying twenty-five dollars for a lousy seat at an NBA game? How many of you are sick of seeing the same teams in the finals every year? I'm sure there are thousands of you out there that feel this way, as do I. The way we can fix these problems is to demand that the NBA enforce a hard salary cap. A hard salary cap would lower ticket prices, allow for more teams to be more competitive and eliminate the possibility of any future lockouts. If the three things listed above aren't met, it's hard to say if the NBA will survive at all. I want to see the NBA survive, but not in the way things are being run now. A hard salary cap is the only way the fans and the players can coexist.
In December 2011, the National Basketball Association would experience a shift in power that would have lasting implications. The Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, and the NBA then owned New Orleans Hornets would agree in principle to a three-team trade that would send future Hall of Famer, Chris Paul to the Lakers for other valuable assets. Former NBA Commissioner, David Stern, nixed the trade citing “Basketball Reasons” has his explanation. The vetoed trade would go down in the history of the league has one of the most controversial deals of all time. The stymied trade has produced many “what ifs” among NBA fans and writers. The vetoing of the three-team deal should have not occurred
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Lockouts have been an effective tool for sports team owners in their bargaining agreements since 1994. A lockout in sports means that owners have suspended players from playing, without pay, until the owners and players can come to terms on a bargaining agreement. Previously, before lockouts players would strike during the playing season which put pressure on owners because their revenue was at risk, while the players had already received their paychecks. Players react differently to the changes in their salaries resulting from a lockout.
Abstract: Collegiate athletes participating in the two revenue sports (football, men's basketball) sacrifice their time, education, and risk physical harm for their respected programs. The players are controlled by a governing body (NCAA) that dictates when they can show up to work, and when they cannot show up for work. They are restricted from making any substantial financial gains outside of their sports arena. These athletes receive no compensation for their efforts, while others prosper from their abilities. The athletes participating in the two revenue sports of college athletics, football and men's basketball should be compensated for their time, dedication, and work put forth in their respected sports.
The stakeholders belongs to many groups in this story. First, the fans drive the enthusiasm and profits for the National Basketball Association. The franchises thrives on it, and need fans desperately to support local and national teams. Players on teams are significant too because they are able to connect with the NBA immediately. The players are able to listen to fans over social media and other ways and be able to let the NBA know effectively. Fans need specific NBA players to be excited and talk about. Players like Lebron, Kobe, and Durant have been talked about for years and continue a basketball legacy. Each player on a team has a role to maintain and have to meet expectations. If expectations aren’t met, fans are disappointed. Teams
Other than the trademark short shorts of the 70’s and 80’s, the game of basketball has drastically changed over time. Even the high-flying, basketball pro, Michael Jordan acknowledged that today’s game is not what it used to be, paying homage to areas that surpassed, but also the areas that, he believed, worsened. Many embrace these new changes, however, there are still many who believe that the NBA is slowly withering away and losing its edge; which will you be?
in the league agrees to the rules set by the NBA from the beginning. The rules