I find the ways in which the poor economy is affecting sports to be incredibly interesting. NFL free agency started last night and it’s crazy that these guys are trying to get contracts for hundreds of millions of dollars while the rest of us simply settle for jobs that pay like 8 bucks an hour. Then you think about how Jim Calhoun flipped his shit about being asked how he justified his high salary and the fact that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is taking a self imposed pay cut. What’s funny is that Goodell runs the NFL, which is the most financially viable of all the sports as it is basically a license to print money, while MLB’s commish Bud Selig is facing huge financial problems with baseball and continues to receive a salary of $18.35 million; $7 million more than what Goodell receives.
Anyway, Bill Simmons wrote an article that is amazingly well researched and full of insider information about how the NBA is facing down huge financial problems. It’s really an astute analysis of the whole situation. They salary cap is going to go down for only the second time ever, teams are stuck paying player contacts they can no longer afford, and teams are thinking about moving cities because they’re revenue base (fans and local businesses) are drying up. And that’s not to mention the coming 2011 lockout!
So give this a read (The No Benjamins Association) and feel free to put your thoughts in the comment section. Seriously, this is, in my opinion, one of Simmons’ best articles.
Yeah, this was a really good article. I really hope there’s a bunch of movement of teams from the stupid locations where some currently exist (Sacramento, Milwaukee, New Jersey, Orlando, Charlotte, etc.). I like when people who are wealthy just on paper get exposed.
Yeah, as someone who doesn’t particularly care for the NBA I enjoy anytime they get a kick to the groin.
I think a team is in KC next year or at the least a team is playing half their games in KC like the Hornets did with OK City. To me, that is an easy pick for a place to get a team. Anahiem I don’t think deserves a team bc it’s next to LA and they’ve already got 2 teams. And when he brings up Pittsburgh I was surprised. Didn’t the Penguins already try to leave Pittsburgh? So I don’t see that being a good place to move a team.
And of course Stern will never let a team go to Vegas.
Oh and the guy that owns the Bobcats is a total tool, so I hope he loses the team and people stop trying to put NBA teams in Charlotte.