The NBA and the players’ union have repeatedly pushed back the deadline for negotiations on the next collective bargaining agreement, but so far no agreement has been reached.
The league, owners and players have until tomorrow, March 31, to reach a compromise.
A “lockout” on June 30?
“I think both parties understand that this is an opportunity not to be missed”explained Adam Silver after a meeting of the board of governors of the league in New York. “Indeed, if we fail to reach an agreement this Friday, the next deadline will be June 30, that is to say at the end of the season. The idea behind these early deadlines is precisely to try to avoid going all the way”.
The parties will therefore continue to negotiate on the points that are still stuck, optimism being generally in order. Even if there is on the other hand a fundamental difference on the strategy in the event of failure of the negotiations.
If no agreement is reached by tomorrow evening, there is a good chance that the blocking points will still be present on June 30. And if no agreement is reached by then, then the NBA will withdraw from the previous agreement, a year in advance. This would put the league on hold, via a “lockout”, while a new agreement is negotiated.
On the side of the players’ union, we also admit big progress, but we regret that the league does not want to go to the end of the collective agreement, in 2024, in the event of failure of negotiations this year.
“The date of March 31 is important, and we are doing everything in our power to find an agreement with the league” explains Tamika Tremaglio, executive director of the players’ union. “If we don’t find an agreement and the league decides to withdraw from the agreement, it would be a disappointment in view of all the work done by both sides during the negotiations, and the fact that our demands are fair. For the fans, it will not change anything. The matches will still be played. The players’ union has no intention of pulling out of the deal anyway. »
It won’t change anything for the end of the season, but it could change everything on June 30. In both camps, however, we hope to avoid this situation because the league is doing well financially, and it has cushioned the shock of the pandemic well. The two camps also admit big advances on the main points of disagreement.
Regional broadcasting rights at the heart of the problem?
But what is still blocking, then? Adam Silver mentioned the evolution of the media several times in his press conference, particularly in relation to regional television.
It is that Diamond Sports, which broadcasts a good part of the matches of the franchises on its regional antennas, recently filed for bankruptcy. The entire television ecosystem is thus evolving, in the United States as elsewhere, and the NBA obviously wishes to take this into account in negotiations with the players’ union.
“We are seeing an evolution, a transformation of media towards streaming services, and our current partners, Disney (the parent company of ESPN) or Warner Bros. Discovery, are also focusing on streaming services”concluded Adam Silver. “Obviously other players in the market could be interested in the NBA, but at the same time, if you include virtual operators, as well as traditional cable and satellite, the NBA is still present in 75 million homes. It’s still a mainstay of how people watch our games and I think will watch our games for the foreseeable future. »
