Is the NBA in trouble?

[Daseal]

jsarno -- those American sponsors are typically global sponsors. Plus, even if he loses American sponsors he'll gain European ones.

[jdlea]

Originally Posted by jsarno

What we are failing to take into account is that LeBron wants to be the best...if he's over there, he won't be in the picture.
As that guy pointed out, Jordan made over 100 million a year, and his salary was something like 20 mil, meaning his endorsements is where the money was. I'd have to say that James is making far more than 50mil right now, so to lose those endorsements is not something he'd be interested in.
Besides, it doesn't appear big names will go, they are big names because of where they play. America is the place to be. Someone like Childress isn't talented enough to have serious endorsements, so he'll take the short term money. For him it was a good decision. The middle of the road guys would benefit from the move...the good players likely would not.

The article says that Lebron would play over there for 1 year or so in order to build some more name recognition and his brand. Lebron is a smart businessman, that's why he's not saying what he said he was going to now that he's in China. Lebron does what's best for him as a business man. He understands that alienating people doesn't sell Sneakers (he wouldn't sell em to me anyway, his shoes are beat) and it doesn't make you money.

Lebron has stated that his goal is to be a "billionaire," he would get tons of endorsement deals in Europe and Nike isn't stupid enough to drop him. Therefore, playing in Greece could only hurt his game, if anything, but definitely not his wallet.

[BDBohnzie]

I mearly point at David Beckham and give you a prime example of what LeBron can be on the International scene. Tiger Woods is another name well-renown Internationally. He's currently in Gillette ads with Thierry Henry and Roger Federer. The other 2 guys you may not know well, but they are extremely popular elsewhere and here. Endorsements come from all walks, including multi-national conglomerates...

There would be tremendous endorsement monies thrown at LeBron going overseas, and might be worth more than he's making now. Plus, don't think for a second brands like Nike, Gatorade and Coca-Cola are just going to drop him because he plays ball in Greece. LeBron may lose Akron TireWorld as an endorsement, but it'll be easily replaced by Athens TireWorld.

Plus, for a name like LeBron to go overseas to play, you know damn well The Ocho will start showing Euroleague highlights. Just because it hasn't happened, don't discount it.

[SmootSmack]

Good points by BD, JD, and Daseal.

Oh...and we're already all over Euroleague, both internationally and via broadband

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by jdlea

The article says that Lebron would play over there for 1 year or so in order to build some more name recognition and his brand. Lebron is a smart businessman, that's why he's not saying what he said he was going to now that he's in China. Lebron does what's best for him as a business man. He understands that alienating people doesn't sell Sneakers (he wouldn't sell em to me anyway, his shoes are beat) and it doesn't make you money.

Lebron has stated that his goal is to be a "billionaire," he would get tons of endorsement deals in Europe and Nike isn't stupid enough to drop him. Therefore, playing in Greece could only hurt his game, if anything, but definitely not his wallet.

Very good points.
Time will tell I guess. No one has done this to this point, so we are in uncharted waters at this point. If they can make it extremely lucrative for him, maybe he will go...who knows.

Regardless, don't see it hurting the NBA unless it is a mass defection of top tier players.

Do you guys think he will be just as big, or bigger over there than here?

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by jdlea

When you're this guy He's the multibillionaire owner of Olympiakos. If you don't think he could afford it, you're out of your mind. Also, he'd be paying Euros, I doubt Lebron thinks he'll get 50,000,000 Euros.

He also owns the most popular football club in Greece, merchandising and ticket sales from combined soccer and basketball would easily make up for whatever he decided to play Lebron. I'd be interested to see how much revenue a guy like Lebron generates in a year, I don't think it would be that much of a loss.

Basically, it's up to how much the guy would like to spend, if he's got the stomach to put up $50 mil, I say, good for him. Besides, Lebron will have Chills over there to keep him company and show him where to eat/live!

way to reply to something my post never said. show me where i said he couldn't afford it...

i said that i don't see how the team would be profitable with 50mill lebron and millions for a decent cast to put around him. and again, yeah he can afford it, but guess what? comos man, that guy lost millions on the team, and once amiga sales dived, the entire league was destroyed.

i mean, soccer used to sell out giants stadium in the 70s... when's the last time that happened on a regular basis?

[jdlea]

Originally Posted by That Guy

way to reply to something my post never said. show me where i said he couldn't afford it...

i said that i don't see how the team would be profitable with 50mill lebron and millions for a decent cast to put around him. and again, yeah he can afford it, but guess what? comos man, that guy lost millions on the team, and once amiga sales dived, the entire league was destroyed.

i mean, soccer used to sell out giants stadium in the 70s... when's the last time that happened on a regular basis?

You keep comparing soccer in America in the 70's to basketball in Greece in 2009. I don't see the point of this, you're comparing apples and oranges. There are a lot more revenue streams in the world now. It's a much smaller place. The guy is an IT mogul, I'm pretty sure that in addition to his increased ticket sales and tv deals, he could also sell a subscription service so that Americans could watch Lebron online and other things like that.

Getting Lebron James would open a million possibilities for them. Also, this team made the playoffs just last year and they added Josh Childress. I assume they'll still be profitable this season, therefore, all they have to do is make up for the $50 mil they'd be paying Lebron and they'd still have a competitive, profitable team.

In addition to that, a large portion of David Beckham's reported contract is paid in advertisement money. Why not do the same for Lebron James?

Finally, I believe that Lebron would generate more that $50 million of income if he went to play in Greece. His jerseys would still sell over here and I'm sure jersey sales over there would sky rocket. This, to me, doesn't seem like there's anyway it could fail for the owner of Olympiacos.

[BDBohnzie]

I can imagine a bunch of Americans getting the LeBron Olympiakos jersey just because it's different. Their merch sales would go through the roof.

As far as the Cosmos and the NASL, they sold out Giants Stadium once, and while drew a good number of fans, having the best player in the world helped with that. There is no danger of the Euroleague shutting its doors because they are throwing money at high priced Americans.

As far as the original question, I don't see the NBA falling that far off. Guys like LeBron will look for the quick payoff, but will eventually make their way back to the NBA.

[jdlea]

Originally Posted by BDBohnzie

I can imagine a bunch of Americans getting the LeBron Olympiakos jersey just because it's different. Their merch sales would go through the roof.

As far as the Cosmos and the NASL, they sold out Giants Stadium once, and while drew a good number of fans, having the best player in the world helped with that. There is no danger of the Euroleague shutting its doors because they are throwing money at high priced Americans.

As far as the original question, I don't see the NBA falling that far off. Guys like LeBron will look for the quick payoff, but will eventually make their way back to the NBA.

I guarantee I would get one. I've already thought about that.