April 15, 2004
What Business Is The NHL In?
Want to know who has the best sports blog around? It's Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, a man who's running rings around the rest of us with his slick combination of insider's viewpoint and business savvy. Today, Cuban considers a question those of us who care about the future of the NHL ought to pay attention to:
There are those around the NBA who think the business of the NBA is basketball. They seem to think that there are enough basketball junkies and purists out there, that if we “let the game of basketball alone”, we would fill arenas, the games would be more enjoyable and TV ratings would skyrocket. They probably also think that the tooth fairy is real.
Reality is that basketball is not the business of the NBA. Entertainment is the business of the NBA. Every single night of the week we battle movies, books, restaurants, TV and Cable programs, talking a walk, everything and anything that is an alternative to going to or watching an NBA game.
Anything not branded NBA is the enemy, it’s the competition for our customers attention. It has to be the mission of the NBA to make sure that watching or seeing in person an NBA game is the the answer to “what do you want to do tonight?” That is not an easy job. I think its finally dawning on a growing number of teams that we as a league have to sell fun, not jumpshots in order to fill the stands.
We ought to be asking the same questions about the NHL, and I'm afraid a significant portion of the fan base might not like the answers. Getting back to Cuban, yesterday, he talked about Bob Sura's faux triple double, and why it really got overturned by the NBA.
As an owner, I would love to know who in the NBA cared enough about this to take action? There had to be something personal going on somewhere. I can guess who did it, but this person dislikes me enough as is…
Guess we're that much closer to the point when Commissioner Stern fines Cuban for Blog Maverick.
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I've frequently had the odd thought that I wish Mark Cuban owned an NHL franchise.
Posted by:
at April 16, 2004 09:10 AM
What, Mario Lemieux isn't good enough for you? =)
Posted by:
at April 16, 2004 10:39 AM
This is another sports owner insisting that his agenda should be everyone's agenda. If I were Mark Cuban I would say the same thing. But as a sports fan, I can't see what I would gain from his world domination. And I don't think anyone should confuse "more money for Mark and his fellow fat cats" with "the good of the game."
Posted by:
at April 16, 2004 01:07 PM
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12:20 PM