The NBA 1999 collective bargaining agreement as a landmark for professional players' policy

Nowadays, sport gets along so well with business that it is a common expression to talk about the “sport business industry” when referring to the main professional championships macrocosm. In the last decade above all, European football and American basketball have experienced a dramatic rise in income which has brought money and fame to their respective sport leagues. It is not a secret television rights are behind the economic tide which has made professional sports extremely rich but still money cannot prove it self as the only resource for making wealthy and winning an entire professional league. There is actually need for human contribution as well, namely effective management. That’s why this project deals about the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a landmark for all other professional sport leagues in terms of games thrill, players’ salary policy, top management skills and league’s revenues. And it is right here the report starts, from the roots of the NBA’ success, by introducing the “masterminds” that have made the league world wide famous either from the court side and from the Chief Executive Office. As a matter of fact, NBA was not born rich and famous but, as a true American dream, it had to struggle before gaining respect and success. Fame was achievable thanks to talented superstars such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird but it was 5 feet and 7 inches tall micro manager David Stern who set NBA management at the top level. League Commissioner David Stern showed great managerial skills by introducing an innovative salary cap system in 1983 in order to keep players’ salaries under control. He also later implemented a league’s revenues tied salary system which defines the fixed amount of NBA’s income owed to players. Here lies the project core: showing how sports financial security, regardless the income amount, can be granted only by limiting players’ wages and by ensuring high revenues shares to both players and team owners. This is what has being agreed in 1998 NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement between Players Union and team owners and what the report tries to propose as a landmark players’ policy. In order to give a deeper outlook of NBA world, the report later deals of the New Bargaining Agreement implementation, about the benefits it introduced and how the league improved since then. The report’s second aim was to propose NBA’s managerial solutions to Italian football premier league Serie A which has been facing recently the same issues that have troubled NBA in the last years. This second task has been developed in the project’s last section along with a brief parallel between the two leagues. Conclusions come straightforward and include Michael Jordan’s shocking decision of coming back to the basketball court at the age of 38 after a three year retirement. What’s behind the six times world champion coming back? Does NBA still needs Michael Jordan as it was 15 years ago? What the open issues that can turn up positively with Michael Jordan on the court? As for NBA, there also a number of problems Serie A will have to deal soon: finding a new president and capping player’s wages are the most relevant. As far as this report is concerned, I hope Serie A will look at NBA top management in order to adopt same NBA’s solutions in terms of players’ policy and budgetary control. Of course, sports industry is not immune of recessions. Certainly, international recent tragic facts will influence NBA behaviour as for any other American world wide symbol, in that case not even Michael Jordan alone can provide to the league’s safety.