Written by: Bennett Grzeszczak
We all know sometimes NBA players don’t try as hard as they potentially could, but when it comes down to the playoffs, you can expect every single player on the court to give their 110%. The complete atmosphere around the players is about as intense and engaging as a bull fight. When springtime rolls around, flowers start to bloom, along with the hopes of every NBA fan across the world and even though there are favorites to win the championship, other teams more than often compete for the Larry O’Brien trophy as well. Lastly, even though the playoffs are an enjoyable experience for all, there is also a tremendous amount of money to be made.Last year, the Golden State Warriors (the reigning champs) grossed an outstanding $130 million within just 11 games in the playoffs. This includes all of the revenue that was made during this time period, such as ticket sales, concessions, merchandise, etc. So, the aggregate (or total) amount of all economic earnings added up to that $130 million. Although, the Warriors did make an very large sum of money during the 2018 playoffs, they could have made so much more by simply letting the Cleveland Cavaliers win a few games. According to Bleacher Report, “Darren Rovell of ESPN projected last year the Warriors missed out on $11,345,000 net gain for Game 7 in the NBA Finals based on ticket sales as well as food and beverage revenue.” As you can probably see, it pays when games become more pivotal in a series. Additionally, rivalries in the playoffs also lead there to be more ticket sales, which affects the sale of much more merchandise and concessions in the long run.
The complete revenue from each of the teams in the NBA is also a very important topic, because if larger market teams make the playoffs, it is overall more beneficial to the association as a whole due to the larger number of fans that they have. This year is extremely bad for the NBA because the top 3 teams in terms of value aren’t even participating in the playoffs. The New York Knicks (#1), the Los Angeles Lakers (#2) and Chicago Bulls (#3) all are similarly located in the largest 3 cities throughout the 50 states, which gives them a huge leg up on the smaller market teams, like our hometown Milwaukee Bucks, but when they end up at the bottom of the league in the total amount of wins, the National Basketball Association gets a much smaller payout.In conclusion, the NBA benefits greatly from the playoffs, but they benefit even greater if large market teams were there instead of smaller market ones, for example the bucks. Overall, the playoffs allow for the association to gain both viewers and revenue to keep the league afloat.
Works Cited
Brautigan, Bailey. “Here's How Every NBA Team Makes Its Money, Visualized.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 21 Mar. 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/baileybrautigan/2016/03/21/where-all-that-money-comes-from-nba-team-valuations-visualized/#20d0329444fd.Goldberg, Rob. “Warriors Reportedly Grossed Nearly $130M in 11 2018 Home Playoff Games.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 11 June 2018, bleacherreport.com/articles/2780589-warriors-reportedly-grossed-nearly-130m-in-11-2018-home-playoff-games.
I agree that sometimes it may feel like the league wants the series to go to 7 games to get maximum revenue, but sometimes the difference in talent can make it a quicker series. The reign of the Golden State Warriors can be a great example when they can win a series in 4 or 5 games, but this year the NBA might benefit from a balance in talent between the 2 conferences.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I will always remember is the 2016 finals. There was not a single close game until game 7. Every game ended with a final result with either the Warriors or the Cavaliers winning by 10 or more. Also to add to that, that same series was "the greatest comeback of all time", where the Cavs came back from 3-1 to win 4-3. This lead me to believe the NBA as an organization wanted the series to go to 7 games so they could benefit from the additional revenue and have a popularity boost of a team coming back from being down 3-1 in a 7 game series.
ReplyDeleteSports are very popular around the world and I agree that they generate a lot of revenue. I agree that they generate a lot of revenue especially when there are rival teams playing against one another and everyone thinks it is a very important game. It increases the ticket sales, food purchases and merchandise purchases. It also gives more jobs to workers because the arena will need more security or more shops set up if more people are buying tickets and attending the game.
ReplyDeleteI can totally see how such a big even such as the NBA playoffs can affect the economy of not only the cities that the teams are in but also the entire United States economy. I'd be extremely interesting to see which teams make the biggest economic impact on the country during this time. You could probably assume that the Warriors would be atop of the rankings along with the Raptors. But what do those small market teams do for the United States economy, the Bucks this year have been phenomenal and would make a way bigger impact than 10 years ago. But how much could the Bucks actually produce in revenue for the economy. Anyways I agree aggregate demand skyrockets over this time period and positively impacts the U.S. economy.
ReplyDeleteI thought that this was a great post. It really surprised me when you said that the Warriors missed out on earning more than $11 million in revenue from a Game 7. That just goes to show how much sporting events influence the economy. Big games like the March Madness Final Four and the Super Bowl bring in millions for the hosting city, boosting local business everywhere. If a cities were to get the opportunity to host one of these games, they would gain a serious amount of revenue.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading I can see how much the NBA has truly impacted our economy. Sporting events like these are big around the world and I agree with the amount of revenue they make. From playing against a rival team and the amount of money they make off of the tickets. I think it is crazy that the Warriors could have made so much more money of they let the Cavs win a couple more games. I feel like that the majority of the time the NBA wants to go into the 7th game and even if the winning team's seems better they make more money with the more games. Looking at this year I wonder how the impact will change because there are starting to be better team than the Warriors. Like the Bucks for example, they have been playing really well and it will be interesting how this year plays out.
ReplyDeleteI don’t watch a lot of professional basketball, but I’ve watched enough games to know that during the regular season, and especially the all-star game, NBA players often play to show off and have fun. However, as you mentioned, when playoffs roll around, teams become more serious and the competitiveness is magnified. If teams always played to win instead of for personal stats, then I think the overall morale and interest in NBA games would peak and the economy in the cities that host the games would grow. My parents shared floor seats this past season with a couple of other families, and the tickets were expensive to begin with. Now that the playoffs are in full swing, the tickets cost three times as much, and people are willing to forgo the opportunity cost and pay whatever it takes to get front row seats to the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting showing how sometimes losing games or having close games makes more money, because it makes me wonder if some of the games are changed by that. If the team knows they would make more money by losing then they may not play as hard or make mistakes. Also the NBA could control some outcomes by telling the refs what to do, to make more money. I haven’t noticed anything that is like this but based on the 11 million dollars that you mentioned it wouldn’t be crazy to think someone would want to do this.
ReplyDeleteThe game takes you on a journey of basketball stars game. You will play in different locations around the world and experience the different styles of basketball.
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