Simmons: A fan-friendly solution to fix the NBA

"'The pool of American buyers who fit that mold has dwindled. Look at [Oracle CEO] Larry Ellison. Five years ago, he would have jumped on the Warriors like Cuban jumped on the Mavericks. Now he's being much more cautious. He doesn't think they're worth more than $325 [million] and they aren't. Not with the current revenue system, not without a new arena, and not with a lockout coming. It's a dumb investment.'"
- Simmons, quoting a wealthy friend.

I run hot and cold on Simmons, usually cold, but this is one of his best pieces in a while. Especially the part about "The illusion of regret."

almost 2 years ago philthiest 16 comments 2 recs |

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Let’s say the NBA made the following rule right now:

Any team that misses the playoffs cannot raise ticket prices the following season. Miss two straight playoffs, season-ticket holders get a 5 percent discount for renewals the following season. Miss three straight, it goes to 10 percent. Miss four straight, it jumps to 25 percent. Miss five straight, it jumps to 50 percent.

Seems pretty reasonable, right? Geez, if you miss the playoffs for five straight years, you shouldn’t be in the league.

To quote one of Simmons’s favorite lines: I will now set myself on fire.

by philthiest on Feb 24, 2010 9:36 PM PST reply actions

oh man i'll be sitting front row if that was the case

so many discounts

by tafkasam on Feb 25, 2010 9:27 AM PST up reply actions

Except when teams sell tickets at significantly below market value, third parties step in, buy them up, and resell them at market value, stealing all the profits and forcing fans to pay market value anyways…..

by Missing Barry on Feb 25, 2010 10:47 AM PST up reply actions

exactly what I was thinking

This will create a scalping bonanza on stubhub and craigslist. Maybe you still save a few bucks on your tickets, but in markets like Oakland, this alone is not the answer

by warriorsvictim on Feb 25, 2010 10:52 AM PST up reply actions

Miss two straight playoffs, season-ticket holders get a 5 percent discount for renewals the following season. Miss three straight, it goes to 10 percent. Miss four straight, it jumps to 25 percent. Miss five straight, it jumps to 50 percent.

That sounds like Reaganomics? take from the poor and give to the rich?

Lights please, lights please, turn off the lights.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Feb 24, 2010 9:44 PM PST reply actions

That sounds like Reaganomics? take from the poor and give to the rich?

hahaha

banned like chris andersen

by MDB on Feb 24, 2010 10:27 PM PST up reply actions

Well we have a good arena….location is crap….but its a great arena.

banned like chris andersen

by MDB on Feb 24, 2010 10:28 PM PST reply actions

I personally don’t see any problems with the NBA as currently constructed, other than the obvious league-wide conspiracy against the Warriors and for the Lakers, of course…

by Missing Barry on Feb 24, 2010 10:40 PM PST reply actions

I personally don’t see any problems with the NBA as currently constructed,

I don’t like the way they can take the Sonics away from their fans, any new teams should come from expansion or cataclysmic destruction of the city that supports them. Rich predatory dudes should not just be able to buy them and destroy peoples lives and community.

Lights please, lights please, turn off the lights.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Feb 25, 2010 9:08 AM PST reply actions

True, but I see that as more of a reality that can’t be helped. If a teams losing money and the owner wants to sell and nobody is interested in buying the team and keeping it in the same city….what can you do about it?

by Missing Barry on Feb 25, 2010 9:26 AM PST up reply actions

agreed

it destroys the continuity of the product they’re selling. i will never get used to, or be ok with, the thunder as an nba franchise. they will always be imposters to me. the same goes for the houston texans, baltimore ravens, the indianapolis colts, the new orleans hornets, the charlotte bobcats, and so on. by moving and repackaging these teams you turn them each into their own cheap, knock-off version of a “new coke” for fans to choke down like the preservative-laden, corn-syrup water that it is…

bring back warriors roundtable! warriors weekly is a pretender to the throne of warriors themed TV shows!

by The Bimbo Coles Experience on Feb 25, 2010 12:42 PM PST up reply actions

Well, that’s kind of an extreme attitude. The A’s, Warriors, and Giants are all franchises that left other cities to come to the Bay at one point…..

by Missing Barry on Feb 25, 2010 1:01 PM PST up reply actions

+Raiders moved and moved back to Oakland

So would that make them instead of just watered down coke, watered down costco coke?

Love Warriors, Hate Cohan! - Sell the team! Save us Mr. Ellison!

by JustSomeName on Feb 25, 2010 3:23 PM PST up reply actions

The problem is the fans, not the league

When you buy an iMac, does it need to cost $1200 for a base model? No way, you are overpaying for the product based on the concept of supply&demand.

When you go to a Warriors game, should it cost $1500 to sit courtside? Hell no, but people and corporations pay.

Why do they pay? People have irrational, emotional attachments to things. We are all guilty of it with the Warriors as evidenced by our presence here.

If we took the Spock approach to buying tickets, the prices would come way down along with salaries and concessions because no one would be paying the current prices for the current product.

We are all the problem. Simmons forgets to mention this in the article. Despite the games the NBA plays with our minds, we are in control and cannot be forced to do anything.

by warriorsvictim on Feb 25, 2010 10:57 AM PST reply actions

Simmons forgets to mention this in the article

Not so much this as much as it’s just not important to think his ideas through. He’s attracting readers, generating hits, not being paid for the quality of the actual thoughts he puts out there….

(I can’t stand Simmons, for the record)

by Missing Barry on Feb 25, 2010 11:09 AM PST up reply actions

haha sounds about right...

i loved this article. it was spot on in its criticisms, creative in its solutions, and overall just incredibly cathartic to read a good, long critique of the nba as a whole!

bring back warriors roundtable! warriors weekly is a pretender to the throne of warriors themed TV shows!

by The Bimbo Coles Experience on Feb 25, 2010 12:47 PM PST up reply actions