So the NBA has joined the NFL in having a lockout of the players. Now most people seem to think that the NBA lockout will be longer than the NFL's and will probably lose some, if not most, of the next season. Well I don't think that has to be the case.
Yes, the NBA is in a whole different situation than the NFL, a much worse situation financially. The NFL lockout is because the owners and players cannot decide on how to split up all the profits they make. They are risking losing some games because the owners don't think they are making enough millions, although they are all definitely making money. The NBA lockout is because at least half of the teams (and more specifically their owners) are losing money. Teams like the Pacers and Kings and other small market teams are struggling to make money, while teams like the Lakers and Knicks are making plenty of money. And oh, by the way, the players are making a lot of money too, much more on average than NFL players. So most people think the NBA lockout will go a lot longer because the league as a whole is unhealthy. But I contend that it doesn't have to last that long.
Everybody involved in these negotiations knows how desperate some of these teams are right now. But they also know how much success the league was this last year. By all accounts, interest in the NBA has been increasing the last few years, and this last season was a great success. So I think everybody knows that they have a lot of momentum going for them that they don't want to risk losing by missing part of the season due to a lockout. So the first thing that needs to happen, is the league needs to come up with a type of revenue sharing that the NFL has had for a while now. There is some revenue sharing now, but it needs to be adjusted. All teams need to share profits with each other. If each team is healthy financially, it strengthens the league as a whole and allows growth because no team is struggling just to get by. If every team has the same chance financially to sign players, then it evens the playing field. Now I understand that owners of the most successful teams right now may not want that because that means they may not have as much success, but parity is great for the league as a whole.
So I know it is a long shot, but if everybody can work together for the greater good of the league, then I think it can get resolved quicker than most people think. And of course, there are some issues that still need resolved and agreed upon with the players association, but I think those are minor compared to the revenue sharing issue. I think everybody would be happier if people just say, "can't we all just get along?"
