As I was reading The Tenacity Radio Network Blog about the future of the NBA and its recent increasing popularity with these so-called ‘Super Teams‘, I began to wonder about the overall effects they will have on the business.
It was a cool concept when I first heard of the news about the creation of the Big 3 in Boston (with Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce) in the summer of 2008. Then soon after, many teams decided to copy Boston’s move of concentrating a group of superstars on one team (some successful, some not) with the hopes of replicating the same success as Boston did in its championship run in 2009 – including the Orlando Magic (with Vince Carter and Dwight Howard), and Cleveland Cavaliers (Lebron and Shaq). But after the much anticipated formation of the other Big 3 in Miami (Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh), and New York Knicks (Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo). I started to think, is the game still the same, with all these mega-NBA-stars getting together just to get a better chance at winning a title?
What effects will this ultimately have on the League?
Now obviously, there is undoubtedly going to be some positive effects on the business. The hype is going to be huge in these cities that the “super teams” are going to form. More people are going to tune in to watching these games; more people will buy tickets to watch live; and more merchandise (jerseys etc.) will be purchased by these eager fans. But at the same time, the competition will be watered down. Teams that do not have their own collection of super stars will not have the ability to win against the “super teams”. The result: they will be stuck in a continuing cycle of being a “stop over team” (as stated in the blog), with losing records every year; their fan base will diminish; revenues will go down, and these franchises will just continue to lose money, until they get moved into another city, in which the cycle continues.
How can the Commissioner (David Stern) address this situation?
Create a ‘hard’ salary cap for the league, much like the NFL, where teams cannot easily exceed the max salary cap; use a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), and revenue sharing among teams.
Now there are rumors that there is going to be a lockout in the 2011-12 season to address these issues. Whether the game will ever be the same again, is a question soon to be answered in the near future.