When the NBA lockout officially began at 12:01am ET Friday morning, NBA.com “transformed to a cut-down version with no pictures, videos or text about players,” according to Royce Young of CBSSPORTS.COM. There is “no NBA-related content on NBA.com that includes anything about a player,” and all content “has been wiped clean for now.” The only content is “either about the lockout or the WNBA.” This comes after ESPN.com reported all images and videos of players needed to be erased from NBA digital properties in the event of a lockout (CBSSPORTS.com, 7/1). League officials said the removal of player imagery from the league and team websites was a long-planned step in the event of the lockout, and will remain in force for the duration of the work stoppage. NBA Senior VP/Marketing Communications Mike Bass said, "We don't think it's appropriate to use video and photography of our current players at this time" (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal). The "Players" tab remains functional near the top of the NBA.com home page, and it takes users to an alphabetical listing of all league players. However, each individual players' entry features a team logo in the space that would usually be occupied by a photo of the player. The Bulls, Raptors, T'Wolves, Thunder and Trail Blazers have removed the player rosters from their respective team sites. The other 25 team pages still include rosters, but users clicking on the name of individual players are redirected to the NBA.com home page. In lieu of news and information on players, the team pages feature stories on topics such as ticket plans, cheerleaders, merchandise offers, coaching changes, the lockout itself and other recent goings-on. For instance, the Celtics' team page highlights efforts to honor Basketball HOFers Larry Bird and Bill Russell (Preston Bounds, THE DAILY).
TWITTER REAX: L.A. Times reporter Mike Bresnahan wrote on his Twitter feed, “New nba.com looks incredibly plain. No player pics, no stats. Only photos are David Stern and a WNBA player. Lockout's really happening.” The Indianapolis Star’s Mike Wells: “Checkout NBA.com for further proof that the lockout has started.” Bloomberg News’ Michele Steele: “Is there *anything* sadder than the NBA's website today … that said the ‘WNBA MVP Race is Heating up.’” Bucks F Andrew Bogut: “Love the new and improved layout of NBA.COM.” ESPN.com’s Chris Palmer: “By the look of the revamped NBA.com the league is apparently locking out its web designers too.” Media writer Dan Levy: “Wow, NBA.com looks so strange. It's like they want us to think it's the 1998 lockout all over again! How thick is Stern's beard already?"
HOLES TO FILL ON TV: The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Cacciola & Schechner report a prolonged NBA lockout “would also hit media companies.” There would be “hundreds of hours to fill” on ESPN, ABC and TNT should the NBA miss games, and about $1B “in ad spending would be up for grabs.” TV sports execs indicated that a shorter lockout “could make for a much smaller effect,” as ad spending “is heavily weighted to the latter portion of the NBA season.” Turner President of Sales, Distribution & Sports David Levy said, “We are certainly making contingency plans for TNT, nothing that we’ll share today. … Hopefully both sides come to a favorable resolution.” An ESPN spokesperson said in an e-mail, “We certainly hope the parties will find a resolution and there is no interruption of play.” Cacciola & Schechner note ad buyers for months have “been scrambling to figure out how they could replace billions of dollars of commercial time that would be thrown into the air should an NFL lockout occur.” However, Horizon Media VP David Campanelli said that an NBA lockout “would involve less money and would be something advertisers could take more in stride, moving money to college basketball or hockey” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/1).
