N.B.A. Blames Economy for Hiring Freeze and Budget Cuts
The N.B.A., citing “economic headwinds,” instructed league office staff on Tuesday to reduce expenses and significantly limit hiring for the rest of the fiscal year. The memo was sent by Kyle J. Cavanaugh, a league executive, and David Haber, the league’s chief financial officer. The memo said the N.B.A. was “facing a very different economic reality than just one year ago.” It continued, “We are seeing significant challenges to achieving our revenue budget with additional downside risk still in front of us.” The N.B.A.’s next fiscal year begins in October, roughly lining up with the start of the 2023-24 regular season. The NBA spokesman did not address which league initiatives would be affected by the cuts or layoffs. The changes come just before the N.B.A. playoffs and a day after the league noted setting a record for attendance and sellouts for the 2022-23 regular season. On April 1, the league and the players’ union announced that they had tentatively reached a new collective bargaining agreement that would go into effect next season. During negotiations, the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown, an executive vice president in the union, told The Times that players wanted “more of a partnership” with the league, including the sharing of more of the N.B.A.’s revenue streams. Last year, N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver said the league expected to take in roughly $10 billion in revenue for the 2021-22 season, between sponsors, television deals, attendance, merchandising and other revenue streams.
This is tough to see. I get that the players work hard for their money and they've earned it, but I'm not sure they would've signed this CBA had they known what it would do to the everyday people working inside those buildings to make sure these players perform at the highest level always. Those are the lowest paid people in the league and seeing layoffs and budget cuts to those hardworking people is a tough one to swallow.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to know if other professional sports leagues are facing the same issues. How can the league recoup the loses instead of layoffs? With record attendance, there has to be a way to generate more profits.
ReplyDeleteI never understood why the NBA is having income problems. Are they not the one professional sport that gets examined by sports media the most. I feel like the NBA comes up in regular social media the most as well.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I feel because we are all big fans of the NBA and watching basketball and we know how much money it generates that we are more shocked by this decision than other companies making the same decision. In 2023, there have been numerous layoffs, and from the article it does not seem that the NBA is making those significant layoffs but rather halting hiring. I think the question is, why are people more shocked and offended by this decision that the same decisions made by other companies.
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