NBA Commissioner David Stern said during a conference
call yesterday that there is an "unforeseen level of
interest" in the league after its first weekend of games,
according to Steve Wyche of the WASHINGTON POST. Stern said
that the NBA is "seeing a bump in local television ratings"
because people are "curious about what's going on." Stern:
"If you took a poll a year ago ... approaching half would
have said their favorite team is the Chicago Bulls and their
second favorite team is the local team. Without disparaging
the Bulls, the local teams have moved up." Stern also said
that "thus far, we haven't had to pay a significant price"
for the effects of both the retirement of Michael Jordan and
the six-month lockout (WASHINGTON POST, 2/11). But in
Milwaukee, Michael Hunt writes that while the NBA's
"unrelenting hype machine would have you believe things
couldn't be better," some actual attendance figures would
"suggests otherwise" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 2/11).
MLB MODEL? Twins Owner Carl Pohlad said that with the
new CBA, Stern "accomplished something that baseball should
follow" because the NBA "now has some control of salaries.
We don't have any." Pohlad: "We've got to have some deal
like the NBA's if we are to survive" (STAR TRIBUNE, 2/11).
