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According to the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, every Oklahoma City Thunder game pours $1.3 million into the local economy. As The Atlantic recently pointed out, Spurs games generate $95 million for San Antonio, the Portland Trail Blazers made a $2 billion local impact between 1970 and 2004.
Without questioning, the NBA lockout has a strong negative imp act on the local economy for most cities. A group of people who rely on the NBA for revenue and employment such as concession stand operators, ticket takers, vendors, arena staff and security guards will be out of a job. At the same time, low-skilled blue collar worker are having huge trouble to find a job. The restaurants and bars near to the arenas suffer a big hit financially. For many bars one basketball game equals what they would make in a week.
Overall, NBA lockout would bring an serve economic lost to cities but each city has different responses related to the lost. For example, the lack of a Kobe Bryant may hurt Los Angeles deeply inside, but it will not be the economical downfall of the greater Los Angeles area. However, the lack of a Kevin Durant three-pointer in Oklahoma City, that’s a different story.
(Read more: http://moneyland.time.com/2011/11/07/the-nba-lockout-and-the-economy-an-overstated-impact/)