NBA All-Star Weekend Extravagance Toned Down Due To Economy

The NBA All-Star Weekend historically has been "synonymous with extravagance, excess and excitement," but the economic downturn has "contributed to a more tempered celebration" for this weekend's event in Phoenix, according to Michael Lee of the WASHINGTON POST. The NBA's three primary events this weekend at US Airways Center -- Friday's T-Mobile Rookie Challenge, All-Star Saturday Night and Sunday's All-Star Game -- all have sold out, "with the cheapest ticket costing $350." However, the NBA "offered some reduced prices for rookie game tickets, including promotional packages and $10 upper-bowl" seats. NBA Exec VP/Events & Attractions Ski Austin said that the league's official All-Star events "haven't been affected much." Lee notes the NBA "cut back on planning costs by relying more" on Suns employees, with league staffers "making fewer trips" to the All-Star site. The NBA also is "leaning more on volunteers and local vendors and suppliers for goods and services." However, an "inability to assemble private sponsors has led to the cancellation of some of the more popular parties," including former NBAer Alonzo Mourning and Basketball HOFer Magic Johnson's "celebrity-infused" Eight Ball Challenge and an ESPN bowling event. Jordan Brand, which held a party around last year's game in New Orleans, "elected to have a private dinner instead" this season, while the NBPA All-Star Gala "plans to rely more on music from a disc jockey after having live performances" by rappers Snoop Dogg and T.I. in recent years. Lakers G and NBPA President Derek Fisher: "A lot of our sponsors, a lot of our players and the league overall are very aware of what the people in our country are going through. I think you'll see a little bit of subdued feel with over-the-top parties, and guys doing a lot of different things individually" (WASHINGTON POST, 2/13). See a roundup of events and parties surrounding NBA All-Star weekend (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/3).

SLOWDOWN OFFENSE: SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's John Lombardo reports while there "may be more NBA-sponsored events" this weekend, "corporate hospitality is down compared with other years." Premiere Corporate Events President Robert Tuchman, whose company books corporate entertainment packages at big sporting events, said, "We are down about 25[%] in revenue for corporations that travel to the event this year compared to last year." Lombardo notes another "notable difference this year is the level of public service compared with the widely applauded NBA community service effort" last year in New Orleans. Friday's All-Star Day of Service this season is a "scaled-down effort compared with the greater needs in New Orleans," as there will be three league-sponsored initiatives in Phoenix, down from 10 last year. Meanwhile, merchandisers expect All-Star apparel to "match last year's sales numbers," which were down from the '07 game in Las Vegas (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/9 issue).

Budding Rivalry Between Bryant (l), James (r) Helps Create Excitement For All-Star Weekend

PHOENIX RISING: In Phoenix, Dan Bickley wrote this year's All-Star Game will "bring the sizzle from a new generation of stars, and it will showcase one of the better new rivalries in sports:" Lakers G Kobe Bryant vs. Cavaliers F LeBron James. The All-Star Weekend "always brings a certain edge." It is the NBA "without pretense, without players having to spout cliches about teamwork and taking it one game at a time." It is the "NBA unmasked" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/8). 

DYNOMITE! TNT will broadcast this weekend's events, and Turner Sports President David Levy indicated that advertising for Saturday's and Sunday's events is "at the same level as last season, but the hard economic times have forced TNT to scale back, especially on the production front." TNT is bringing a "smaller technical crew to Phoenix, overlapping producers and directors from its Thursday studio show" and NBA TV. Levy also said that TNT will "do more editing" from its studios in Atlanta for the game. Levy: "Nobody is immune, really, to anything that is happening in this economic climate right now, but I will say that marquee events, like the All-Star Game, are really the one that people tend to gravitate to, both to the arena and on TV. So from that perspective, our all-star event is going to be a huge success, I believe, from an advertising perspective and I think the ratings will also be there" (WASHINGTON POST, 2/13). In Phoenix, Bob Young writes with "all due respect" to ABC and ESPN, "nobody does NBA basketball" like TNT. And "nothing allows TNT to flex its superior muscle like All-Star Weekend" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/13). 

JOLLY GREEN GIANTS: In Phoenix, Jahna Berry reported the NBA for the first time is "buying green-energy credits to offset the power that it expects to use at US Airways Center and at the Phoenix Convention Center" this weekend. The NBA plans to "ratchet up recycling, to use Suns stars for a green public-service announcement and to use post-consumer products to build a playground as a community-service project on Friday." NBA Exec VP/Social Responsibility & Player Programs Kathy Behrens: "We recognize that a lot of the efforts around our games and the transportation and the use of arenas ... (that) there is a lot of energy use involved in that." Behrens did not indicate how much the NBA paid for the energy credits, but an Arizona Public Service spokesperson said that the credits "would cover the equivalent of 1,500 megawatt hours of power" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/9).