How a Supreme Court Decision Could Squash NBA Players in 2011

[Omaha Steve]

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/07/19/how-a-supreme-court-decision-could-squash-nba-players-in-2011/

Posted Jul 19, 2009 11:35AM By Tom Ziller

Three weeks ago, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear an appeal in American Needle vs. NFL, a circuit court decision which ruled that, for the specific purposes of marketing intellectual property, the football league should be considered a single entity instead of 32 individual teams. This allows the NFL to escape antitrust liability on this matter.




The NFL, according to ESPN's Lester Munson, has found an opening: While American Needle (a hat manufacturer) needs the Supreme Court to reverse the circuit court's decision, the NFL wants the high court to expand it to cover all league activities. Effectively, that would remove any antitrust liability from the NFL, the NBA and the NHL. Munson and a number of sports law scholars believe that, due to the Supreme Court's make-up, the NFL could be victorious when the case is heard next year.

That could doom the NBA players union in its negotiations with the league in 2011.

As has been covered at NBA FanHouse, the league and union are on a crash course for heartbreak in 2011. The league has insisted that the current salary system -- in which players receive 57% of basketball-related income through salary and benefits -- cannot last as a handful of teams struggle to stay solvent. Word is that the NBA wants to shrink that figure, contract the maximum length of contracts (currently six years), increase the age minimum to 20 (from 19), and possibly more. The union doesn't really like any of those ideas.

The word "lock-out" has been bandied about, though the league has tried to soften worries in various ways. As the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement approaches in July 2011, the worries will only grow in amplification. The NBA is projecting a steep decline in revenue this season, a good deal tied to attendance figures. The economy has set a bad situation for season ticket renewals, and league-wide parity is not particularly strong right now. (Last season saw three teams win less than 20 games for only the second time since 2000.)

Already, the union's position is seen as weak. The union will be arguing for the status quo, potentially along with stronger revenue sharing. The current CBA is working out for players, even though the union consented to some strong restriction in 2005 (particularly with regard to contract length and the age minimum). The league will be able to show the public very easily that the CBA is not working out for most teams. And while the negotiations might again look like "tall millionaires vs. short millionaires," the ramifications will affect fans. Greatly.

FULL story at link.

[Ian David]

1. It's only a game. Come on. n/t

[Forkboy]

2. No, it's big, big business under the guise of games.

I love sports, but let's not kid ourselves. It's a money machine first and foremost.

[dysfunctional press]

3. something is going to have to give...

the salary structure in the nba is simply unsustainable- especially in the kind of economic climate we're going through...people just aren't going to have the kind of money to pay the kind of ticket prices that are going to be required.

[BlooInBloo]

4. It's hard when so many Americans support the billionaire owners...

over the millionaire players.

I wonder what the difference is in the case of basketball?