pretty sure they did 66 games for the lockout year, with a december start and most tv contracts are for 60-72 games. the christmas games have been big in viewership for the league and advertising and merchandising sales for christmas. starting in january makes more sense to me for training camp and free agency but money talks. posturing and hardball. hope it works out for mutual satisfaction. the earlier start with a earlier finish for olympics and worldwide brand exposure important too.
the devil's most successful campaign was selling folks on the notion that "IT'S NOTHING PERSONAL, IT'S STRICTLY BUSINESS"
Has anyone reported why the players union doesn't want to start in time for x-mas games? It's in their financial interest to do so. Are they concerned about too little time to ramp back up after the late bubble completion?
The players association is saying that to get a December start, negotiations would have to be completed six weeks before. Too much has to be agreed upon in such a short period of time in their opinion. This may be just a negotiating ploy. With the summer Olympics going on in July, I would hope the players see the urgency. Extending the season will not be an option. Lost games means money that is not going to be able to be recovered.
both sides (my guess is mostly the owners) are kicking the nuclear can option of cancelling the CBA down the road. Now it's November 7th. I think there's a lot of posturing going on but if I had to guess I think the owners are a lot closer to the nuclear button than the players are if the major sticking point is about a 3-4 week difference in when the season starts, it seems like a compromise could be found. But, the longer this takes, the darker the stories about the pandemic will become and that just about guarantees the games will be played in empty arenas. That a lever the owners will definitely use and in fact, are using. Not only is it a lever, it could be increasing the chances the owner will cancel the CBA. I don't know how thin of ice the negotiations are on right now, but it's getting thinner by the day
In a very weird situation. Teams like the Lakers and Heat JUST finished playing. Teams like the Warriors and Bulls haven't played in almost 8 months. I think there are going to be a lot of differing opinions on the players side of things on when they want to get back at it.
Couple of other things to consider is that the bubble teams got a break before going to Orlando. They were in the bubble though, which was more traumatizing for some than others. I do not think the negotiations have gotten nasty yet. If they had, we would be hearing more about the profit the Miller's just got for selling the Jazz.
When I was serving this country i i miss a lot time without my family. Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays and many more things and your saying the players got traumatized being in the bubble give me a break.
