Jordan Hass
Mr.
Reuter
Econ
29
April 2014
“Sticks and stones may break my
bones, but words will never hurt me.” This is a quote that we are all familiar
with and a lot of people live by these words, but in certain situations, people
can take it a little too far. And for Los Angeles Clippers owner, Donald
Sterling, taking it a little far is an understatement. He said some things such
as “Well then, if you don’t feel-don’t come to my games. Don’t bring black
people, and don’t come.” He also mentioned racist remarks towards hall of fame
basketball star Magic Johnson which really got to Magic. He was truly hurt by
the direct comments, and he was even reported saying, “I will never go to a
Clippers game again as long as Donald Sterling is the owner.”
Now, what does this have to do with
the economy you ask? A lot more than it appears. For the Los Angeles Clippers,
this is going to play a huge impact on their team, which plays a large role for
the economy in the surrounding area. They already have lost sponsors for their
team, because don’t want to be affiliated with a team who has an owner who
makes ignorant remarks such as the ones Sterling made. They lost sponsorship
relationships with a large amount of companies, such as “CarMax, State Farm,
Virgin America, Red Bull, Kia Motors, Aquahydrate, Amtrak, Chumash Casino
Resort, Lumber Liquidators, Yokohoma Tire Corporation, and Corona.” Clearly,
virtually every single one of their sponsors has opted out of their
relationship due to these comments. And that is going to bring the team down
from that aspect and definitely put them in a decline.
Not only from the sponsor aspect,
but from a fan aspect, the Clippers organization will decline greatly. An
endless amount of fans completely disagree with everything that Donald Sterling
has said and has halted a lot of fans’ desire to attend these basketball games
and spend their money. One famous rapper, Lil Wayne, was recorded in a tape
saying, “F*** you. That simple, that easy. If
I was a Clippers fan, I wouldn’t be one anymore. If I was a Clipper
player, you wouldn’t see me on the court anymore in that uniform.” Obviously
Wayne speaks for every African American fan and player out there and shows the
rage.
With that rage, the number of fans
that will be attending these NBA Clippers games will reduce greatly. That means
less tickets will be sold, less merchandise will be purchased, and ultimately,
less money will be accumulated by the Los Angeles Organization. They play a
large role in the Los Angeles economy, being that they are one of the most
popular sports teams in the city, much thanks to their All Star players, Blake
Griffin and Chris Paul. But with these racist comments even putting the players
against their own owner that signs their contracts, and pays them to play
basketball, fans definitely are taking huge offense to it, especially the black
race. It will show an immediate drop in fan attendance which will make a big
impact on the economy, because of the fact of how much money a professional
basketball team can provide for a city such as Los Angeles.
So although some people may think
that “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” they
never took into account how much racist comments from an ignorant owner could cause
a decline in the economy, and will definitely not be solved until he is gone
for good.
Works Cited
The economic impact of Donald Sterlings comments are clearly going to be a detriment to the L.A. Clippers organization. For starters, the Clipper brand is tarnished and it may take years to resurrect the damage that has been done by his comments. Cities surrounding professional sports teams flourish off the respective teams economically: from ticket to merchandise sales the revenue is endless. It will be interesting to see how much the LA Clippers will sell for after these remarks were made.
ReplyDeleteThis could be seen as a positive. They could use this negative story and turn it around and use it as a time of hardship and if they pull off this series, they could become a fan favorite, bringing money in. The Clippers do have the ability to overcome this economic downturn, it just matters how many games they win.
ReplyDeleteI agree Ryan; this could be a huge motivational boost. This is a very interesting way to look at such a terrible situation, but you have to find the silver lining. Now that Donald Sterling is banned for life, I think that the Los Angeles Clippers will bring in extraordinary amounts of revenue.
DeleteIf they bank off the Sterling remarks, you are 100% correct, it could turn out to be a positive. If they beat the Warriors and advance everyone will look up to them as the team that overcame hardship, merchandise sales could then increase and fan attendance would also increase, resulting in a larger revenue for the team and a larger economic inflation. It also helps them that this year the Laker's were very bad, resulting in an already positively swayed view of the team.
DeleteI disagree Ryan; I don't believe the team will be able to use this situation as motivation. I see no hardship in the situation of a owner saying something that by some people could have been seen as racist. A bad situation like this should be quietly taken care of, because why would everyone need to hear about it. I bet many people didn't know who Donald was until this scandal, but now that's all they know him for. It seems wrong. And because of this situation, the Clippers may experience a contraction in sales and hit a steep trough. It will probably take a while before hitting another expansion.
DeleteThis is very true statement you made, during game 4 at the oracle you could tell the Clippers were a different team. They just looked out of it and that can affect the sale of the tickets because if they lose in the first round then they arent able to sell tickets for the home games in the second or third round, where the price increases greatly. But last night, the Clippers looked ready to go and beat the Warriors at the Staples Center in game 5. This game was played after the annoucentment of Donald Sterling being banned for life and the Staple Center was packed full with loving Clipper fans supporting their team and happy about the ban of Sterling.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. Donald Sterling’s comments went way too far and hurt many people. When this tape surfaced on Saturday, I was like, are you serious? I couldn’t believe that I was hearing. Although this was a major blow in the Clipper’s organization, the NBA made a step toward the healing process by slamming him with a lifetime ban and a whopping $2.5 million fine. Although the Clipper’s revenue will go down, they eventually will get back to the top if they get a fresh face in the owner role. The Clipper’s organization is really hurting right now, but they will eventually get back on track when a new owner comes and tries to fix the damage that Sterling caused.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that the owner of a professional basketball team would say something like that. It completely contradicts his team and the NBA considering most of the players are African Americans. Their economy will definitely take a huge downfall as the weeks come. Losing all those sponsor's will take out a huge chunk of money for the Clippers. But losing most of the fans money and enthusiasm will hurt the team as well. Donald Sterling really messed up by making such offensive remarks.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting article because I never took into account how much money the Clippers would be losing from a few hurtful words. I knew the owner was going to leave but I never thought the economic impact he had would be so great. Although I do believe Donald Sterling shouldn't be a clippers owner and should pay for his actions I don't believe the team should be penalized for that. It wasn't their fault their owner was ignorant and racist. Even though the Clippers are struggling right now, it shouldn't effect their team years on from now when the owner leaves. One man shouldn't stop fans from going to watch their favorite sports teams, and players playing the sport they love. I believe Donald Sterling should be paying the price but not everyone else.
ReplyDeleteThe NBA commissioner did the right thing in firing Donald Sterling, due the comments he made towards the African American Race. Being the owner of a superstar franchise, one should be thoughtful enough to respect the players and the people around him, because just because he is the owner, he doesn't have all the power. The Clipper Brand will have a bad name for a bit, but hopefully with the removal of the owner the team can continue its run into the playoffs and puts this whole situation behind.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy how just one remark can shake up the whole team's world and economic future. It will be interesting to see the actual decline in game attendance, as I believe it will be very significant. I agree with Ryan too; if fans see and know these views are just the thoughts of Sterling and not the whole team they might come back around. If the Clippers can win and make it far with all of this drama going on, who knows what will happen.
ReplyDeleteI feel that even if the Clippers get a new owner it will be difficult to gain respect back. It will be tough for a new owner to come in and make things right with the Clippers organization and all of the fans because it will be such a huge responsibility. It is depressing that Sterling made these comments and the effect that his words have on so many people around him. I hope that the Clippers organization and all of the fans can move on and leave this behind them in the past.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting to say the least. Doesn't matter if you are black or white we are all the same. And it's pathetic that he can't get over the fact that we are all humans. This will be story that will never be forgotten for the Clipper organization. Hopefully everyone can move past this in a positive way.
ReplyDeleteI'm quite confused on how they have allowed him to continue to be an owner in the NBA considering he's done these things and have made racist remarks his entire time as being an owner. I do agree with Steven that it is going to be extremely hard to gain the respect back for the ones that were once offended by this because it sticks with the team not just the owner. I found it rather interesting that the players were basically boycotting their team by putting their practice jerseys inside out so none of their logos were being shown. I'd be upset as well if I were the players, their boss is basically saying that he doesn't like them at all so whats the point of "going" to work?
ReplyDeleteBy losing the multiple sponsors listed in the article as well as having a racist owner, the L.A. Clippers will lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential revenue from fans as well as the companies they partnered with for the many advertisements you see on TV that contain two of their star players Blake Griffin and Chris Paul.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you wrote about this, the remarks made need to be talked about. I had no idea the impact on the economy surrounding the clippers was going to change so greatly I mean the amount of sponsors they have lost already is incredible. This is situation can be overcome; they Clippers are a good strong team. If they win and put the remarks in the past the economy will grow follow their success.
ReplyDeleteI never thought that a basketball organization can have such an impact on a huge city such as LA. But I can most certainly see why it would have such an impact. Players rebelling, Fans revolting, And sponsors vanishing, basically the words that this guy says is driving away the income made by the Clippers. Why can't people just keep their thoughts to themselves. Why cant people see that racism is outdated and just plain wrong?
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ReplyDeleteOverall, I think the punishment is a bit harsh. The NBA gave him the MAXIMUM fine possible. So the NBA is insinuating that making some minor racist remarks is the worst possible offense someone involved with the NBA can commit? Players have gotten into fights, had drug issues, and there have been issues with sexual assault charges. You can't tell me one little comment is more harmful than when "World Peace" jump into the bleachers and beat the crap out of a fan that didn't even throw anything at him. This is not deserving of the worst punishment. The remark, while racist, wasn't even that horrible. He said what, don't bring black people to basketball games? He could have said, "don't bring black people to basketball games, they smell and are inferior to white people in every way", or maybe "I hate N******, don't bring them to a F****** basketball game, they will ruin the entire experience". It wasn't that horrible. Racism is an issue because people make it one, in a lot of cases anyway. I am not saying that people who are horribly racist don't exist, and I am not defending racism, but maybe people could stop being so offended by something that is in reality, not that offensive. I mean sure, people have the right to be offended by anything, but I have the right to think those people are idiots. And to all those white people who are so up in arms about this, it shouldn't, you may be worried that this will reflect badly on your race. BUT IF YOU ARE NOT RACIST IT SHOULDN'T MATTER. He is just a guy, not a white guy. He just happens to be white. If race really didn't matter, then who cares? He is just some slightly angry guy stuck in traditional white supremacy land, who made some silly comment in his own home. If I told my friends not to bring black people to a basketball game, they would just look at me like I was insane, not fine me $2.5 million.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Evan. It seems today that if any white person says the word black, everybody gets offended or calls them racist. Anyway, it's unfortunate that Sterling is going to lose his place as owner. Although, Sterling's profits are going to decline because of his comments, in a way, I think the fans will eventually bounce back and support the team/players with a increase in profits. When you think about it the only reason why people aren't spending money for the Clippers is because of Sterling, so maybe they will just to something for the players? It's a possibility.
ReplyDeleteI knew about the social problems that the comments made but I had no idea how much it impacted LA's economy. All of the Clippers sponsors dropped in an effort not to be affiliated with that kind of racism and as much as Donald Sterling deserves it, they Clippers do not. Hopefully once the team gets sold the sponsors will come back and help fund.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that basketball could effect the economy so dramatically. With the all of the sponsors this team lost i now understand how the economy will be affected. However, the Clippers could possibly turn this whole situation around by coming back strong and winning. Although they can not take back what the owner said, they can push it to the side and try to regain their sponsors and fans. That will help bring the economy back up.
ReplyDeleteThe LA Clippers were affected greatly because of this 'Sterling' dilemma. According to opednews.com, "78% of the players are black." This goes to show how not only the LA Clippers are effected, but the whole National Basketball Association (NBA). In America, sports are a part of our culture and having a variety of ethnicity is included whether some (Donald Sterling) like it or not. The LA Clippers, like all other NBA teams are franchises. A franchise is a company handled by an individual or group enabling them to carry out specified commercial activities, e.g., providing a broadcasting service or acting as an agent for a company's products. Now knowing what a franchise is, like Jordan said, this franchise will lose money if Donald Sterling doesn't sell it. You see no one will want to purchase brand name Clippers merchandise if the money will go to the franchise owner, Donald Sterling.
ReplyDeleteProtesting Donald Sterling's remarks, the Clippers players wore their warm-ups inside out before the game not long ago. This protest went to show that no matter what brand name you have or the color of your skin everyone is the same on the inside (for why they wore their warm ups inside out). Overall, public opinion defiantly is a huge factor in economics especially with business and franchises.
This is just living proof that words do have an affect on the economy. A few racist remarks in one conversation causes the Los Angeles Clippers economy to take a hit. It should not be surprising though. There are many black people who end up going to NBA games, not just Clipper games. This just happens to be one team, but it affects the rest of the league as well. The Clippers ended up losing sponsors because of the remarks. Players ended up considering boycotting the games, and if not for NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, giving a stiff punishment of banning Donald Sterling from all NBA activities for life and the 2.5 million dollar fine, who knows where the whole situation would be at.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Evan may have put it very bluntly I do agree with him. I get that he should not have made these remarks out loud of in the fashion that he did, but there is some racism inside of everyone. It seems to be that they hold the owners higher than the players themselves who only get suspensions for drugs, other offenses or even the inappropriate comments that they themselves make during games or in their everyday lives. Overall I think that the league was to harsh on Mr. Sterling. He is after all a human, and humans make mistakes.
ReplyDeleteOff of what Luke said up above, we now have more black, Asian, and other non-white players in basketball than white. Racism has always been around, less than it used to be thankfully, but it still exists today, as heard and shown here. It kills a lot of things - it kills parts of the economy in some cases such as this, it kills bonds that people once had with each other - such as many of the sponsorships and deals all those companies had with the Clippers that then left. It hurts relationships, builds barriers, and throws away successes. The Clippers' owner was definitely very ignorant to say those remarks and when you really think about it, African American players often have better stats and abilities than those of white players in the game of basketball. Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan being some of the top players to ever enter the court beating out all the white players. Racism is real, but it only brings hate, violence, and disruption with it.
ReplyDeleteThe clippers have lost a lot through this whole fiasco. Many sponsorship's and deals left which hurts the demand for the clippers and the money that they bring in. Hopefully they have a turn around with a new owner but he was really racists to say those remarks and not think before he acted. Therefore, causing his team much pain and media pointing. Now the economy of the Clippers is down and sees no way of turning around unless a new coach is en stated and brings about a better relation with the players and the community that supports NBA basketball.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is kind of an invasion of privacy, but wasn’t Donald Sterling talking in private when most of the remarks were made? Anyways, it is unfortunate that the Clippers team will have to go through all this trouble. The revenues will decrease immediately, especially from the African American fans, but I think that they will soon bounce back. Basically because fans and sponsors backed away from the Clippers because of Sterling and his remarks, but since he is being pulled, the money will start flowing back into their laps. No one will just stop loving the Clippers as a team, they are just upset over Sterling’s remarks, as many people should be.
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