The NBA has seen a drop in attendance, TV ratings and
retail sales and FORBES' Daniel Roth writes, "The figures
don't reflect apocalypse, but they do suggest that the NBA
has lost its casual fans." Some wonder if the league had a
strategy for life post-Michael Jordan, to which NBA
Commissioner David Stern replies, "I didn't have a Jordan
policy. Why should I have a post-Jordan policy?" Roth:
"Couldn't Stern the master marketer have found some elixir
that would have prevented a Jordanless headache?" But Roth
reports that one of Stern's "larger ambitions" is NBA.com
TV, which he wants "to become a revenue-generating
missionary, preaching the game's gospel -- past and present
-- 24 hours a day." Stern is also talking "about taking
part of the NBA public" and the "new entity could include
not only the league's Internet assets ... but perhaps all of
[NBAE]." Roth, on Stern's strategy: "Go digital and go
public -- but wait a minute. Interactive basketball? Are
people really going to pay to sip a beer and watch a game on
their Palm XII? Well, maybe. Think of it this way: Would
you want to bet against David Stern?" Meanwhile, Stern
"blames the decline in gross retail sales ... on external
factors." Stern: "[Some] of our licensees were [only]
interested [in] their quarterly reports. They developed
products on a short-term time frame for short-term tastes,
and they sold it in the widest number of venues." In
response, the NBA will "cut ties with recalcitrant licensees
and produce more of its own products" (FORBES, 2/21 issue).
STARRY, STARRY LEAGUE? USA TODAY's Mike Lopresti writes
that a "problem" with the NBA is "not gifted individual
players. The league has plenty. The shortage is in truly
magnetic teams" (USA TODAY, 2/17). In N.Y., George Vecsey
writes that the NBA faces fan "apathy." Vecsey: "People are
avoiding pro hoops on Sunday afternoon to see if Tiger Woods
can take another golf tournament" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/17). In
Providence, Bill Reynolds: "Is there anyone who still likes
the NBA? It doesn't seem so. ... In the NBA's rush to
create a new generation of superstars, it's managed to
create a coven of young players who are not particularly
likeable, never mind being the poster children for the
future" (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 2/17).
