With the new collective agreement, the NBA has struck hard against “load management”, this physical management of stars by franchises. For Adam Silver, the phenomenon had gone too far and we had to think about the fans, disappointed to pay (expensively) for tickets only to sometimes miss the headliners of the league.
For many, these strong measures are also a message to television channels and other broadcasters, while negotiations for the next TV agreement will begin on March 9, 2024.
But for Mark Cuban, “load management” did not particularly bother true fans of the franchises.
“I think the fans saw things from a certain point of view, but I don’t think the problem was as big as people said.”explained the owner of the Mavericks on the ESPN set. “I think it was mainly pushed by the punters. We went from a world where it was like, ‘Hey, this is my team, I grew up a Mavs fan, I’ll always be a Mavs fan,’ to a world where, on social media , half of the discussions, if not more, are about ‘I bet on this match, what will the odds be’. And this greatly influences load management. It’s unfortunate, but it’s the reality of the world we live in. »
— Sports Fan (@sportsnow12345) September 28, 2023
