At the Olympia Building in New York, NBA headquarters, Commissioner's Office, David Stern is checking box office data for the first two weeks of the NBA season.
This year is a crucial year for the NBA. Last season they were affected by the financial crisis, their revenue fell by 7 percentage points, and their attendance and ratings hit new lows in recent years.
In order to cope with the crisis, David Stern had to lay off 9% of the league's employees to reduce expenses. At the same time, he raised US$175 million through financial institutions, established a team funding fund, and issued loans to teams to survive the current crisis. Difficulties.
Life is difficult for small and medium-sized teams. The Detroit Pistons are the worst. The entire city is bankrupt. Attendance and revenue have been cut in half. The Pistons, who once dominated the league, have fallen apart. The team has directly transformed from a strong team in the Eastern Conference finals to a season one. A fringe team in the postseason.
In the summer, the Pistons welcomed back their iconic figure Ben Wallace, and with Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince remaining, they still have some appeal to fans.
The Pistons tried to trade Allen Iverson to save the box office, but Iverson was obviously out of tune with the city of Detroit. Not only did he fail to save the box office, he also had conflicts with the team. After his contract ended, he became a free agent.
The Pistons' opening game was pretty good at the box office, and the Auburn Hills Palace Arena at home was full, which was a good sign. However, the team lost to the Thunder without any suspense. They still played the slow-paced, defense-oriented style of the past, scoring very many points. Low.
Entering November, the Pistons began to be unavailable at the box office. The attendance rate was less than 70%, and the ratings were even more dismal.
Think about it, the Pistons were ratings poison during their peak period, and their iron-barrel defense forced the league to change the rules.
Otherwise, there will be no 70 points in a game, a defensive battle in the finals, and the NBA's revenue will be even worse.
In addition to the Pistons, there are also Nets, which originally planned to build a new arena to replace the old Continental Airlines Arena.
But now the team can't come up with the money, and Barclays, which supports the Nets, is hesitant and unsure whether to terminate the cooperation.
The Nets' attendance rate was equally dismal. They had a so-so attendance rate of 85% in the opening game, but then plummeted, with the attendance rate falling directly to 50%.
A few days ago, Stern went to watch the Nets' game against the 76ers. The auditorium was so empty. For those who didn't know, I thought it was a preseason game.
The Nets' extremely low box office appeal, combined with the Charlotte Bobcats' low box office appeal, created the lowest attendance of 9,205 people.
Of the more than 9,000 spectators in this game, it is estimated that half came to see Bobcats owner Michael Jordan sitting courtside.
Stern looked at the attendance of more than 9,000 Bobcats and sighed deeply, thinking that if Jordan took off his suit and played directly on the court, the Time Warner Arena in Charlotte would be filled to capacity.
Today, the league's card is Kobe Bryant, but Kobe cannot have the same influence as Jordan did, and can single-handedly bring up the ball market.
During the 2001 season, the Washington Wizards' home box office ranked 18th in the league, with a total attendance of 630,000.
When Michael Jordan returned in 2002, the Wizards ranked second in the league in box office, with a total attendance of 840,000!
One person can suddenly bring 200,000 more attendances. This is a home game, and the away games and TV ratings are even more impressive.
Jordan's second comeback coincided with the September 11th incident. Confidence in the national financial market suffered a heavy blow, and the market fell sharply after being closed for a week.
Stern was worried that the NBA would be hit and persuaded Jordan to come back. So Jordan announced his comeback for the second time on September 25. Taking this as a turning point, the US stock market recovered and rose again, and the NBA's revenue ushered in a small peak.
This can be seen from the player salary cap, because the salary cap is directly related to revenue. It soared from 35.5 million in the 2001 season to 42.5 million, an increase of 19 percentage points, and the increase was the highest since the 1995-1996 season.
Why did revenue increase higher in the 1995-1995 season?
Because that was Jordan's first comeback.
When Stern saw the box office of the Los Angeles Clippers in the past two weeks, his eyes lit up. Although the attendance rate could not be compared with the Lakers, it was unexpected that it exceeded 80% in every game.
And because the Clippers are determined not to cut prices or discounts in ticket sales, and even raise some ticket prices, their box office revenue in these games is quite good.
Stern was originally very worried about the Clippers' lack of any discounts or promotions. Do you think you are the Los Angeles Lakers, the defending champions, and you have to pay extra for tickets?
You are a broken ship with a thousand-year-old rotten team. You may not be able to see anyone when you send tickets, but you still dare to increase the price?
Unexpectedly, their new manager Smart Min quietly made the Clippers popular through various operations.
The first is Curry, the highly controversial No. 1 pick in the draft. During the entire offseason, perhaps a third of the topic was about whether Curry would become the most popular No. 1 pick, which was a hot topic.
Secondly, a fight between Clippers players due to racial discrimination once again attracted a wave of attention, making the Clippers more attractive in the new season.
The last point is that Griffin's unexpected reimbursement makes people feel that this guy is a prophet who has successfully avoided a big thunder, otherwise the Clippers' box office this year will be really in danger.
Looking at their current record, they defeated the Lakers in the opening game, defeated the Jazz, and beat the Warriors for two consecutive victories. They are a rising star in the league. They are ranked fourth in the Western Conference with 4 wins and 2 losses, and they have the possibility of entering the playoffs.
Stern, who had previously thought about killing Min Congda, now had to admire the parachute general manager's superb wisdom. He was able to lead a bad team like the Clippers. This is not something ordinary people can do.
Los Angeles is a huge sports market. If the Clippers can compete with the Lakers, it will play a very good role in in-depth exploration of the entire California region.
"This Smart Min is indeed a genius. No wonder Sterling refuses to fire him. I really underestimate him. Although this guy doesn't talk big or small, isn't that true of all capable people?"
Just as Stern was thinking about it, his secretary called and said, "Mr. Stern, Mr. Smart Min, the general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers, is here to see you."
It was really said that when Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrived, Smart rarely called. Stern said: "Pick him in."
"Picked in, on line three."
Stern rang the number three line, thinking that this guy had something to say to me. Was he trying to express his merits and exchange feelings?
As soon as the call was connected, Min Congda's anxious and angry voice came from the receiver, "Mr. President, can you explain to me why our opponents always have uneven lineups and injuries after the Clippers season starts?" ?As the president of the league, should you pay attention to this phenomenon?"
After listening to this, Stern felt a little confused. Your opponent's lineup is not neat? Isn’t this a good thing for you? What did you say to me when you came to me?
Besides, I don’t want to see players get injured. What can I do?
"Smart, what do you want from me? I didn't quite understand what you said."
"I'm fine with you. I just think the league has a problem with players' health management. The schedule is too intensive and players are always injured. This is not a good thing for the box office of the game. Our Clippers have 4 games in 5 days, two consecutive back-to-back games." , three days of rest and back-to-back, which is a big challenge to the health of the players!"
"Look at our opponents. Generals are absent in every game. What do you want the fans who come to watch the game to think? Fans want to see the complete matchup and don't want to see the remaining teams fighting each other. The league's schedule needs to be optimized!"
Min Congda lectured Stern, saying that what Stern said had nothing to say, because what he said made sense.
Player injuries have always been a headache for the league, so the league has been considering relaxing the schedule in the past two years to reduce on-court confrontation and reduce the risk of player injuries.
"Okay, I understand, I understand Smart, thank you for your suggestion."
"It's good to know. Okay, I'm hanging up. Come on, David."
After saying that, Min Congda hung up the phone, and Stern couldn't calm down for a long time listening to the beeping sound.
"Shet."
Stern finally cursed, as NBA president, how long has it been since anyone dared to talk to him like this? After being scolded by this kid, he didn't even say anything. He was speechless.
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