Small Business Finance News
NBA Lockout Hurting Fans And Small Businesses
Written by Jenna Weiner
Published: 10/17/2011
The NBA lockout will affect fans across the country, but will also harm small businesses that depend on customers who make purchases associated with the sporting events.
The recent dispute between NBA players and team owners on how to best split the league's annual revenue of about $4 billion has dragged out long enough for early season games to be cancelled. If a season does not take place, it will hurt more than just the die-hard fans; it will affect small businesses all over the country.
The Wall Street Journal reported SMBs and self-employed Americans will lose out on significant business if the lockout does not get resolved. Caterers, bars, stores, parking lots and even personal masseurs will lose business in an already weakened economy. As a result some businesses are scaling back their spending in anticipation of the decreased revenue.
The local ABC affiliate for Chicago recently reported that many sports bars around the city will experience significant declines in customers if there is no professional basketball season.
"It brings in season ticketholders. It brings in people from out of town. It brings in people from all over the city," Chris Delagado of Hawkeye's, a bar and grill that will likely be negatively affected if there is no NBA season, told the news source.
In addition, Adam Delevitt, ESPN 1000 program director, told the source that he has to fill a void in most programs during the basketball season. When most fans would want to talk about the Bulls on the radio, the DJs have to fill that time with extra content from other local sports teams.
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