The NBA’s Image Problem

More than a third of basketball fans say the National Basketball Association rigs its games, according to Advertising Age. In a survey of 907 people, 37% said they believe it is somewhat or very likely the league rigs its games, and the number jumps to 41% among fans who describe themselves as “casual” or “avid” followers of professional basketball.The results appear following the FBI investigation of referee Timothy Donaghy for passing inside information to gamblers and relations. Furthermore, Mr. Donaghy alleged last week that the NBA engaged in duplicitous business practices, which resulted in much bad press. Yet, as Advertising Age writer Michael Bush noted, “the poll was done prior to former NBA referee Tim Donaghy’s allegations that NBA executives and referees manipulated games to boost ticket sales and TV ratings.”Commissioner David Stern’s reputation as the most image-conscious of major sports league directors might suffer most from this latest disclosure. Mr. Stern has already acknowledged the league’s image problem, telling fan site Spurs Report (http://snurl.com/2n1q5), “If there’s a fan out there that believes” the games aren’t clean, “and I believe there is, then we have an issue. And when we deal with our brand, there’s no such thing as a minor issue.”***A Board Game for ImperialistsTyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution last week linked to the latest release from TableStar Games: the Wealth of Nations board game. In the Risk-like strategy game, players assume leadership of national economies, building them “from humble beginnings to the status of a world economic superpower.” Such status can only be achieved by developing six “Industries,” which, in turn, produce six “Commodities,” including food, energy, and labor. Commodities, represented in tile form, can then be used to expand existing industries or be traded for other commodities.The Invisible Hand also figures into the game’s otherwise complicated calculus. Commodities that a player requires, but that cannot be obtained via trade with other players, can be purchased from “the Market.” Purchased commodities bear an increased price reflecting increased demand, while surplus goods sold to the market receive a lower price reflecting increased supply.Acquiring “Victory Points” is the ultimate object of Wealth of Nations, with the player who gathers the most valuable combination of “Industries” and “Money” receiving the most points and clinching victory. The game, Mr. Cowen remarks, “seems to emphasize the imperialist reading of Adam Smith.”***Supersonics EconomicsIn a lawsuit filed by the city of Seattle against the new owners of the Supersonics basketball franchise over an effort by the owners to move the team to Oklahoma City, both sides have tried to assess the impact of the franchise on Seattle’s economy.“I concluded that the departure of a professional sports franchise from a city will have no detectable economic impact on the economy in that city,” a University of Alberta economist, Brad Humphreys, said in testimony delivered for the defense and discussed by the professor Dennis Coates on the Sports Economist. Mr. Coates argues that while testimony given by Mr. Humphreys has been spun to contradict that given by an economist arguing for the plaintiffs, both experts actually agree. Mr. Coates remarks that the economists for both sides generally make the same observations: Tangible benefits are likely to be small, and intangible benefits are difficult to quantify and study.

The NBA’s Image Problem

The NBA’s Image Problem

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