No doubt - I buy it.
Itâs a return to Seattle too as most here remember but many under 30 or so would not know without looking it up.
Hereâs the less than 90-second excerpt with regards to the plans in Las Vegas, including the land already purchased, from this monthly video by this established local who has been a vlogger for some time. For me, this is now his only quality content and itâs at least something the way most independent content on YouTube has been going of late.
Oakview Group and CEO Tim Lieweke leads this effort for Las Vegas with also Lebron James mentioned in the mix to be a key investor in the group.
Letâs note that Lebron James already owns a stake in FSG after exchanging his stake in Liverpool FC for it in March 2022. In March 2023, it was reported that Lebron increased his stake in FSG.
Unknown to many, the point is that this is hardly Lebronâs first time around with ownership of a sports team along with his other investments in entertainment assets.
Also for those interested in the local update on the Aâs, it is at 2:13 of the video.
Itâll be interesting to see the degree in which Las Vegas and Seattle will hurt XFL attendance.
Well this is as good an NBA thread as we have.
Now all, please hold off on raising your hands until I finish reading the question, but who here amongst you would enjoy a great fight in the heart of the City of Philadelphia!?
Wait, wait, calm down please, one at a time âŚ
Anyway, perhaps donât answer, but though I donât live in centre city, I WOULD!
I side with the locals here too, for I do know the area well like many who work in the city or once did so as I did for a time in 2020 and yes even during that pandemic.
It was otherwise an important experience that keeps giving to this day, and I support the locals here because I worked nearby and they all work hard to make more than a living down there but a fine community with quite the local history of contributions to our city.
The real fight locally with the 76ers has only begun!
Captain Timbers and my crew also support this new mission to save Chinatown Philadelphia and the entire local neighbourhood, so if you hear something about pirate attacks in Philadelphia but itâs not baseball, please, please, be calm and rest assured itâs only my crew and me helping out my local neighbours.
And here are the local media parrots, already enemies of Pirate Cat before our support announced today, doing some public relations for the ownership of the 76ers but still at least referencing the local opposition and the challenges with such an alleged privately funded and certainly costly new venue in such a location:
https://www.axios.com/pro/media-deals/2023/06/01/nba-tv-rights-deal-disney-amazon-youtube
Donât know if this belongs here or elsewhere - to the mods - sorry if I dumped it in the wrong place.
Now I asked before who amongst you here does not like a great fight in the City of Brotherly Love, and there was a stampede to the stage, and I do understand all your excitement and the pent-up demand, but please, please, calm down and attempt to be orderly this time.
But wait! Thereâs more!
Now Comcast has kicked in to fight all the more the 76ersâ development firm for the proposed new arena, and we know damn well this is simply a heavy turf war.
The battle is indicative and inclusive of Comcastâs waning clout and racket with their low-budget and bush league, akin to poor quality stadium concessions for premium prices [that mandatory Regional Sports Fee on your cable bill], NBC Sports Philadelphia regional sports networks.
Do you know that these Comcast people cold call me every day in the afternoon via robocall? I think they want to perform the song âBaby Come Backâ for me, but Iâm not going to be swayed when I have a great deal for at least one more year anyway and $50 per month WiFi internet that is never going up with more than I can watch or want to watch even on YouTube and free Netflix any more, but I digress.
Now I find myself paradoxically siding with Comcast because I oppose the proposed Chinatown Philadelphia development, but otherwise nope, I want Comcast OUT of my local sports for sake of rackets or any real estate. This goes for any given telecommunications or media firm too in ANY city.
Itâs a good thing that at least the Eagles have kept Comcast at bay.
So here goes the tale.
[Chairman of the New Development Company] Adelman also said Comcast Spectacor âscrapesâ more than 200 calendar days per year at the arena [Wells Fargo Center] for events and concerts beyond 76ers and Flyers games, a figure the company says is âneither true nor mathematically possible.â
Comcast Spectator has sought to counter Adelmanâs plan with a $400 million renovation, as well as a supplemental development project at the sports complex in South Philadelphia to be announced later this year.
Adelman said the Wells Fargo Center improvements were âcosmeticâ in nature, but the company argues that ânearly everything but the foundation, steel, and concrete has been replaced with state-of-the-art materials and amenities.â
The 76ersâ lease at Wells Fargo Center expires in 2031.
So I have not followed the NBA much since 2010 and I probably wonât for another two seasons, and that is another story, but their approach to the 2023 to 2024 is groundbreaking.
The NBA will have an early season tournament that begins after merely two weeks of play.
Why? I see two angles:
Fans are more excited about a tournament format than regular games in the dull period of the NBA season dominantly before the All-Star break in February.
With all the options at hand, I believe there is heavier competition in sports and entertainment in North America more than ever, beyond the CFL, NHL, NFL and NCAA FB also during November and December.
Gambling - a tournament format encourages far, far more gambling! DUH!
Even so Iâm not reading much direct narrative in these regards as if sports gambling is still some âsecret gardenâ as if we are still in 2005 and perhaps a trip to Las Vegas is involved for sake of any legal action, but then again itâs not like I have researched the matter as have clearly the NBA and other leagues and the global gambling industry.
In late 2022 we did note the early signs on this front of expanded data and graphics for live sports globally via Genius Sports, as posted in the Streaming Thread.
We can see the clear connections via Genius Sports to global gaming firms as Genius enhances the screen experience for fans and especially to target gamblers.
Genius Sports and the NBA also expanded their deal in March.
This article from March 2023 does offer excellent insight on this front, for enhanced data are there to lure and attract especially gambling fans:
SportsPro saysâŚ
Sports data firms are becoming increasingly important digital partners for rights holders, offering a range of services that go beyond the revenue they receive for their data rights, which are then sold to bookmakers and other customers.
The addition of Second Spectrum to Genius Sportsâ armoury means it can now offer teams more deeper, varied insights to improve their on-court fortunes, while broadcasters and first party channels benefit from data-driven capabilities that drive and deepen engagement.
The NBA has traditionally been ahead of the curve when it comes to digital strategy and its recently overhauled official app is no exception. Personalisation is a fundamental design principle and with NBA League Pass fully integrated into the international version of the app, Second Spectrumâs capabilities will allow it to offer streams tailored to user preferences or to different markets, highlighting the performance of certain players or other elements of the game.
@Paolo_X I really want to see if the NBA gets the number that they are asking for from a network or group of networks. If ESPN is hurting now, how bad is it going to be bleeding two years from from now? And for the sake of argument if Disney drops out of the bidding who is going to give the NBA what they are looking for as far as the dollar amount? When ESPN was flush with cash they drove the price up for everything, if they drop out of the bidding on the NBA who is the league going to use as leverage to get the price they want for their product.
Bottom line I am with Paolo in that ESPN is sinking fast and they are not going to have the money to chase these big ticket items. The landscape has changed and is not getting better.
I think Adam Silver et al are even more nervous about the upcoming new NBA media deal than they will admit, but for over-the-air no doubt theyâll get more than they could ever even collect via ESPN:
Adam Silver has to play this with no fear in his eyes and a stiff upper lip. I think the NBA is going to ask 3x what they got last time. I donât think they will get it with cord cutting turning that business space into a blood bath. ABC being sold for pennies on the dollar to Nexstar? How is that going to play out? That is not a good thing for all the legacy media groups.
I think you are correct.
Right now in the NBA there is a big fuss about âload managementâ as Silver is scrambling to hold up the entertainment value, including with the insertion of a mid-season tournament. This is a good plan as noted previously, for the interest in the NBA is way down early in the season and seemingly until their Christmas Day extravaganza, which is no longer theirs with the NFL weighing in on the same day any more.
Apparently all games in this actually early-season tournament count for the regular-season standings except the championship game. The implication here is that there will be also a losersâ bracket after an elimination round starts. I donât know yet the details, for I donât care.
Ah ha ha so like you imply, there he goes with a ready and firm raise at the table with zero expression 
âŚ
I feel like it would also be fun to play poker against you, but only for small change (which is all I have ever gambled anyway knowing full well the risks and wacky stuff that happens especially when larger sums are involved).
Shuffle up and deal.
@Paolo_X I am with you on the gambling, I am good enough at math to know that Vegas was not built giving money away. I will gamble a little bit here and there. When I do hit a casino I will lose $200 dollars and then be sick to my stomach for a while and not gamble.
Horse Racing I like but that takes 6 hours to lose $100 dollars at the rate I wager money. Get some nachos, BS with my buddies read the program, have a beverage and then watch the race. Great way to spend an afternoon or evening.
As far as the NBA - Their negotiations start next year - A lot can happen in two years worth of time. The current deal with ESPN/Turner expires following the 2024-2025 season. Damned near two years from now, who knows what the media landscape is going to look like? Odds are that ESPN and ABC will probably tap out of that one. The NBA is asking for triple of what they currently get. I can see ESPN paying that much as they just gutted their NBA crews.
All that said I see this going a couple of directions for the NBA - 1) Apple or Amazon buy the rights to the NBA and it is on streaming, because no one else would bid on the rights. 2) the NBA ends up on linear TV and streaming packages and the NBA doesnât get their target number. Lots of games on Peacock.
Take those predictions with a large grain of salt as I am just throwing pasta against the wall. I am sure there is a third and fifth option that donât even come close to what will really happen.
Edit- ChatGPT cleaning up what I was trying to say in regard to prediction of future events.
In the context of predicting the future, there is a concept related to âthinking the unthinkable.â This means that when trying to anticipate future events or developments, it can be valuable to consider scenarios that seem highly unlikely or even impossible. The rationale behind this approach is that unforeseen events and radical changes can and do occur in the course of history. By exploring extreme scenarios, you may be better prepared for a wider range of possibilities.