With baseball season over, many basketball fans look forward to the upcoming NBA basketball season. Unfortunately, the lockout has placed the 2011-2012 basketball season on hold because the team owners want to earn more money by cutting players salaries.
NBA revenues (from parking, souvenirs, tickets etc.) have been decreasing over the last couple of years. Players are guaranteed 57 percent and owners get 43 percent of the revenues. In addition, players earn money from their individual team revenues. However, 22 out of the 30 teams have lost money and, according to the owners, last year they lost $300 million and the 43 percent they have now isn’t enough.
Currently the NBA uses the ‘soft’ cap salary system, which sets the minimum amount basketball teams are allowed to spend or over spend, with an added tax, on players contracts. Teams making a lot of money can pay the tax, affecting what teams play in the NBA. Only wealthy teams can afford to have top players.
Owners want to switch to the ‘hard’ cap system which, unlike the soft cap, doesn’t allow teams to spend over the amount. However, players believe it will take away full guaranteed contracts for all but top players. League officials are not willing to negotiate with players unless they agree to switch to a 50 percent share of the NBA revenues.
As of now, the NBA has cancelled all games through Nov 30. NBA commissioner David Stern states that since a deal was not made by Oct 29, all the games through Christmas are at risk of being cancelled. The owners overall goals are to create a system where the owners can make money and make sure all the teams in the NBA have an equal opportunity to play in the championship.
