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NBA owners should do right by their season ticket holders
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By Daniel Barber
July 30, 2011
NEW YORK — By now it's pretty well known that the NBA owners and players are set to resume talks on Monday, Aug. 1 in hopes of bridging the gulf between the two sides and finding a way to end the lockout.
The goal, of course, is to reach a new Collective Bargaining Agreement ( CBA) both sides can live with; just as the NFL did a little over a week ago in their labor dispute.
However, not many people give the talks much chance of accomplishing anything other than allowing both sides to preen for the cameras, make witty sound bites for the media, and go on about the business of blaming the whole affair on the intransigence of the other side.
After all, it will be the first meeting between the two sides in the month since the lockout was put in place at midnight of June 30 when the previous CBA expired.
NBA Commissioner David Stern, NBA Players Association Executive Director Billy Hunter, as well as NBAPA President Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Lakers are expected to attend, along with many others, but don't think for a minute it'll be all niceties.
The owners seem dead-set on getting their way this time, unlike what happened in 1998 during a similar labor dispute, and this whole thing could end up getting messier than it did then; when the league was forced to cancel a number of games and play an abbreviated season.
In fact, there are many in the know who speculate the entire season could be lost this time because of how far apart the two sides actually are in their stated desires.
If that actually happens, there is something I think all of these owners should be thinking about.
About a week ago I read an article by Lacy J. Banks of the Chicago Sun-Times detailing how the Chicago Bulls ownership intends to not only refund season-ticket holders' money if the NBA lockout cancels the 2011-12 season, but go beyond that.
"None of our fans will lose money," Bulls Marketing Chief Steve Schanwald stated when asked about the Chicago club's plans. "If there is no season, we will refund their money with interest."
Strangely enough, although I ran searches on a number of newspaper and media sites, as well as on Yahoo! and Google, I could find no reference whatsoever that any other team had made such an announcement.
To me, this should be a no-brainer, and it's something every owner of an NBA franchise should come out and proclaim before they even walk into those meetings on Monday with the players.
As Schanwald said in regard to the Chicago franchise he works for, "The Bulls have been around a long time and expect to be around much longer. As long as we are in business, we will treat our season-ticket holders, our sponsors, and other supporters fairly."
I'd say that's the least they can do, and it's definitely the least any other franchise can do.
While I'm not personally a season-ticket holder for the Miami Heat because I live in Berkeley, Calif. I would hope owner Micky Arison would have the same respect for the loyal fans of his franchise; and I'm confident he will.
These fans have committed to an NBA season, placing their trust in the idea it will occur. If it doesn't, I won't—and I doubt many other Miamifans will either—hold Arison personally responsible for the cancellation of professional basketball this coming year.
After all, how could we? If there's one owner among all of them who's as reasonable as they come, it's Mr. Arison. I'm sure he's doing everything in his power to try and convince some of the newer owners (who are crying poverty—many falsely in my view considering some of the audits that took place by the media) to come around, but in the end his voice may not be enough.
That being said, he should still do right by the many loyal fans who have laid it on the line to purchase season tickets and have made his club, the Miami Heat, one of the flagship teams in the league.
So, I would entreat him to go even further than the Chicago franchise has (after all, the Heat are better than the Bulls, aren't they?), and announce not only that Miami intends to refund all season-ticket holders—with interest—if the season gets cancelled, but that he'll be offering something beyond that to appease those selfsame loyal fans.
Perhaps he could hold a raffle or lottery among them and give away a new car or something.
Trust me, you do that, Mr. Arison, and I doubt you'd have to worry about anyone canceling their season tickets over the next decade or two. Just smart business if you ask me.
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