LeBron James: Kawhi Leonard’s “Load Management” a double standard?
By Ronald Agers
ESPN, Turner Sports and ABC spend a lot of money for the rights to these games. How about the fans?
There is a scene in the movie Purple Rain that I always think about when it comes to the business of sports. It’s the scene when Prince was arguing backstage with the club manager and he screamed “This here is a business! You ain’t too far gone to see that yet!”
Guess what, some of these players have lost that concept at times. These major networks spend a ton of money to play NBA games on their air. There are sponsors that spend money on ads based on eyes watching these games.
Plus there is this thing called competition. I hate to think how angry the ESPN executives were when they found out Kawhi Leonard was not playing on ESPN on Wednesday night but would be back to play the next night on TNT. Studio shows count too in the ratings. Inside the NBA is head and shoulders above everyone when it comes to studio coverage.
In the big picture, it doesn’t make good business sense to hold out the most cherished free agent signing in Kawhi Leonard so early in the season. He’s also one of few in the NBA that can compete with the “Greek Freak” head up, one on one. Money was lost on this night.
These networks pay hundreds of millions of dollars a year to put a product on the air for fans to watch. According to the LA Times, ESPN, ABC and Turner Sports are in the midst of a nine-year, $24-billion media rights deal with the NBA. Good luck to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver trying to smooth over media conglomerates like the Walt Disney Company or AT&T with a “load management” excuse. After a while, the optics will present a choice to fans.
Watch a less exciting game at home without stars or do something else. The media networks don’t work that way.
To the people reading this that don’t care, trust me the cost will trickle down to you in your satellite and cable bill. Check it out at the end of the month.
How about the NBA fans directly? What gets lost is the fact that there are fans that will miss this huge match up in the city of Los Angeles. There are children that may live in cities all over the country that are Kawhi Leonard fans. These tickets aren’t cheap. Then there’s the food, parking, possible paraphernalia in the team store, etc. This night will set you back a few bucks folks.
The NBA is driven by stars and star matchups. No longer are the days when teams were sold like the Lakers and Celtics rivalries of the ’80s. When Michael Jordan came in and took over the NBA marketing world, the NBA changed with it and starting marketing stars.
Think of what would have happened if LeBron James had sat out at any time for rest? Oh yeah, it actually happened.