With the state of the economy today, organizations across the board are forced to come up with innovative promotions and marketing ideas to help generate revenue. The NBA is feeling the downturn like anyone else, and some teams are feeling it more than others. The New Jersey Nets are one team that is actively promoting their season ticket packages through unconventional means. Their two more innovative packages include both offering reversible jerseys with other team’s players opposite their own, and personal player appearances as a part of season ticket packages.

The Nets are embracing the fans who unfortunately may be coming out to see their opponents more so than Nets players with their “Match-Up Plan.”  The “Match-Up Plan” includes tickets to 10 games against popular teams, and more importantly, popular visiting players. Also included in the package is five reversible jerseys with a Nets player on one side and the jersey of LeBron James, Kobe Bryan, Dwight Howard, Dwayne Wade and Kevin Garnett on the opposite side.

The second interesting season ticket package is certainly geared for the fans with deeper pockets. The Nets will offer a discounted floor seat package for $25,000 that will include four courtside seats for 10 games (at $750 each per ticket it would be $30,000 value). More importantly, this package will offer the fan the opportunity to have a Nets player make a one hour appearance of their choosing. That’s right, Devin Harris at your wedding, child’s birthday party or just over for dinner.

According to Nets Chief Executive Brett Yormark, the players will not be compensated for the appearances. Under the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement, players are required to make seven individual personal appearances, with at least two of those seven in connection with season ticket holder events. Clearly these appearances will be applied to the player’s required promotional appearances as opposed to the traditional meet and greet type of events. As a result, fans will be limited in their player options as we can expect Devin Harris’ obligations to be filled quickly, him being their most popular player.

These promotions are certainly innovative and are excellent examples of recognizing the demographic and using it to your advantage. As Brett Yormark explained, there were a number of courtside seats still available, and he often gets calls from season ticket holders about player appearances. With the allotted player appearances required by the CBA they were able to package them in such a way that will likely enable them to sell more premium priced floor seats. One can only be curious too see what the Nets next big promotion is.

My reading of Matthew’s piece is at a very apropos time.  I just placed my first basketball client overseas, and earlier today, discussed a possible NCAA rule change that would allow high school graduates to play professionally overseas and retain their student-athlete eligibility.  I believe that the rule change would open the NBA up to even more competition against the international market; athletes will be more comfortable with traveling across the ocean to play in a foreign country if they have previous experience playing there before college.

Matthew’s premise is that basketball competition overseas is now credible, which serves as a big threat to the NBA under its current collective bargaining agreement (CBA).  The The Union of European Leagues of Basketball (ULEB) and its exclusive Euroleague have been able to acquire strong talent from the United States in the past few years.  While the NBA does not allow any athletes under the age of 19 to play its game, FIBA (the entity in charge of creating rules and regulations in Europe), allows 18-year-olds to play in the ULEB.  FIBA does not regulate player contracts or salary caps, but teams may be bound by their country’s or European Union’s labor laws.  No salary cap means that players will be valued properly…remember rumors of Kobe Bryant considering going overseas…purely because the NBA’s salary cap restricts his ceiling.

Other benefits of playing overseas include the creativity that owners are able to use to secure players.  They often offer cars, residences, rent, and flights in their contracts.  Sometimes, players are even given the right to become partial owners of their team and can sell advertising space on their uniforms.  And then compare the Euro to the U.S. Dollar.

Meanwhile, the NBA implements a salary cap, allows owners the possibility to have restricted free agents, and tells 18-year-olds ready to play after high school, that they have to wait a year.

Epps says that a free agent transfer agreement with Euroleague is not plausible.  It would be challenged in U.S. and EU courts.  Instead, Commissioner Stern might want to consider expanding into Europe now, and create a few NBA teams across the Atlantic Ocean to compete in an NBA Europe.  I believe that an NBA Europe is an interesting idea, but it would have to be totally distinct from the NBA in the U.S.  Although there could be a “World Championship” between the winner of the NBA Finals and NBA Europe Finals.  That would make for some good T.V.

Another solution: Get rid of this one-and-done rule!

The NBA Draft is this Thursday?  Doesn’t it seem like there has been much less press/hype/coverage leading up to this year’s draft?  There are no LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, or Dwyane Wade caliber players in this year’s draft pool, but there are plenty of guys ready to contribute strong minutes in the NBA.

Even though there are less opportunities for players to showcase their skills in front of NBA teams, it seems like the athletes don’t mind.  In fact, many players are opting out of invitations to work out in front of scouts and GMs.  Some teams have taken a worse media backlash than others.  Chad Ford of ESPN.com thinks that the Memphis Grizzlies, in particular, are struggling with some image problems.  He quotes an unnamed person as saying,

“[The Grizzlies] don’t spend any money anymore. They don’t have a commitment to put a winning team on the floor right now. It’s not where an agent wants to send his star pick.”

Agents do have a lot of sway when it comes to where their superstar clients are picked.  A lot of that decision often revolves around the market of the city that the team plays in, the players already on the team, and the money that teams ordinarily dish out.  For rookies, though, that first contract is pretty much set in stone depending on the slot you get selected.

Memphis isn’t all that bad!  There is good BBQ, and it’s home of the Memphis Redbirds, where Pete Parise is tearing it up.

Also, Givony reports that this year there will be three major workouts, hosted by 3 NBA teams, with many other teams latching on to scout the highly touted players invited.  Golden State, Minnesota, and New Jersey are hosting, with the largest overall team turnout expected at the New Jersey workout.

Want to know who the players getting workouts have signed to represent them leading up to and following the draft?  Check out our most recent NBA Draft Signing Update.

Basketball

• Josh Childress answers some questions about playing overseas [Josh Childress: I'll become a better player here in Europe].
• So much for parity [NBA Season--Which Teams Really Have A "Final" Chance?].
• Will he live up to the tremendous hype surrounding him? [Bynum agrees to four-year extension worth $58M]
• Does he need a ring to become a true king? [LeBron James Needs NBA Title To Be Marketing King].
• When will the truth come out?  Are NBA teams profiting or not? [NBA Owners May Let CBA Lapse After 2010-2011 Season].

Football

• This Saturday, take a seat and watch the fastest man in pads tear up the Georgia defense [Fastest Man in Pads May Be Florida’s Tailback].

Baseball

• An example of a large investment with little return [Adam Loewen takes the money and runs].

Ehadadi’s NBA dreams have now come true. The Memphis Grizzlies website reports that they have officially worked out an undisclosed deal with Hamed. The 23 year old is now the tallest player in Memphis franchise history and will be the first Iranian ever to play in the NBA.

The unpolished Ehadadi (also spelled Haddadi), is a 7′2, 254 pound center who will need to gain some weight and get tougher if he wants to keep up with other centers in the NBA. Although Ehadadi led all Olympians in average rebounds and blocks per game, he still has a lot of learning to do. It took Yao Ming several seasons to get accustomed with the NBA’s physical style of play down low. I believe it will take Hamed the same amount of time before he is seen as a force in the paint. The Grizzlies traded Pau Gasol to L.A. last season and are hoping Ehadadi can fill his shoes. The Grizzlies will also feature Pau’s brother Marc Gasol in their lineup this season.

With so many great players leaving the NBA and heading overseas this off-season, it is great to see a talented player like Ehadadi doing the opposite and coming to North America. The Olympics this summer showed us that although the USA still has dominant athletes, other great players and teams do exist out there. The Ehadadi story along with the passion of the Chinese fans toward our NBA athletes prove that the NBA dream still exists for many athletes and others.

After many scouts saw Ehadadi play in Beijing last week, NBA General Managers became interested in the big Iranian center. The NBA then disallowed all communication between teams and Ehadadi, claiming that the league needed a license from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control before teams could negotiate with the Iranian. Today, that license was granted.

The 7-foot-two Ehadadi averaged 16.6 points in five overall matches, good for eighth overall, and was the only non-NBA player in the top-ten in rebounds grabbing 11.2. In fact, the Iranian center led all players in rebounds through the first five games. Ehadadi also led the field in blocks (2.6) and tied Yao Ming with the most double-doubles of the tournament thus far, earning two.

Besides Ehadadi, NBA teams will also attempt to talk Iran’s Mohammadsamad NikKhah Bahrami, the shooting guard that led Iran in scoring with 17.2 ppg, while shooting 50% from the floor.

Well, that comment and his notable skills during only four games in group play caused NBA commissioner David Stern and the NBA legal counsel to advise NBA teams of their rights when dealing with Iranian players.

In the letter, which was sent to all NBA teams Friday, the NBA legal counsel wrote: “It has come to our attention that representatives of Hamed Ehadadi, an Iranian basketball player, may be contacting NBA teams to discuss the possibility of signing Mr. Ehadadi to an NBA player contract. We have been advised that a federal statue prohibits a person or organization in the United States from engaging in business dealings with Iranian nationals.”

Ehadadi was asked in a press conference if any NBA teams had contacted him so far. He replied by stating that two or three NBA teams had already contacted him, including the Memphis Grizzlies.

In Iran’s four losses in Pool B of the Olympics, Ehadadi averaged 16.5 points, 10 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. He is considered a project by many NBA teams, but recently has shown improvement with his inside game, showing more strength than in previous settings. Ehadadi also has shown that he can block shots. His most impressive attribute however, remains his height. At seven-foot-two, the young 23 year old is a project that many NBA teams would like to start working on right now.

Currently, the NBA is applying to the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control to get a license that would allow any NBA team to negotiate with Ehadadi. Until the NBA gets permission, no franchise is allowed to discuss anything with the HUGE Iranian.

I wonder if the NBA will investigate any of the three teams that have contacted Ehadadi already. If Major League Baseball investigated Manny’s situation after he was traded to L.A. then David Stern will certainly be looking more into this situation and the NBA teams involved. I do not believe it will result in anything substantial, but contacting an athlete who cannot be legally contacted is a violation of NBA rules.

Here is the description of the game sent to us by the site:

Just like Real NBA GMs, 30 + users come together to create a virtual NBA league with 30 GMs and at least one Agent to negotiate free agent contract and player buyouts. The game uses the NBA’s Collective Bargaining agreement so they are pretty much taking over the GM duties of an NBA team like the real NBA GMs do.  The NBA uses the Collective Bargaining Agreement to control spending as well as to even the competition playing ground for NBA franchises so that smaller markets can compete with the larger markets. This game captures the essence of the business side of the NBA.

The game is broken down into 5 phases:
Phase 1 is before the NBA rookie draft
a. You can trade soon-to-be free agents to free up salary cap space for free agency
b. You decide team options
c. You can move up in the rookie draft
d. No free agents can be claimed
e. You can negotiate buyout

Phase 2 is the rookie draft
a. You draft rookies

Phase 3 free agency (starts a day after the draft is finished)
a. Agents can represent free agents
b. Agents decide player options
c. Gms can make offers to free agents

Phase 4 regular season play (October-March)
a. GMs face off head-to-head in 18-week regular season
b. Agents face off in Rotisserie-style play

Phase 5 Playoffs (for GMs only April)
a. GMs face off in NBA playoffs

It seems like a great opportunity and chance to sharpen your skills. Every potential NBPA agent on this site should definitely be considering joining this as an agent, or even as a GM (trying to think and negotiate like a GM might give you some more insight on where you might be able to get GMs to be more flexible.)

Any unanswered questions? Want to learn more and sign up? Click this link to go to the homepage and check out what it’s all about.

The NBA is scared.  There is nothing to make league executives think that Childress is a rare blip on the radar.  Thus, I was not surprised to hear that agents are now using that fear to their clients’ advantage.  Delonte West, represented by Noah Croom of Goodwin Sports Management, has made some headlines recently as potentially being the next fringe player to leave his NBA team for a more lucrative offer overseas.  In this case, Croom has suggested that Dynamo Moscow is interested in offering West a two-year deal worth about $10 million.  If true, the offer would seem to be more favorable than the $2.76 million qualifying offer that West would likely receive from the Cavs for a year.  West and Croom cannot be too happy about such a small monetary figure when his teammate, Daniel Gibson, is receiving $21 million over 5-years.

There really is nothing wrong with Croom trying to look elsewhere to drive up the price of his client.  We do it all the time by leveraging teams in the same league against each other.  In fact, in the early 1970s, agents drove up prices by pitting the NBA against the ABA.  Now, there is a new option: putting in an NBA executive’s mind that one of his prized players is thinking about traveling across the Atlantic Ocean.  Assistant Coach Manos Manouselis of Olympiacos (the team that recently signed Childress) recently expressed his feelings toward American agents using the potential of playing overseas as a negotiation tactic.

Our goal is not to be a factor in driving up prices in the NBA market, but rather to target players who we believe will help us win the Greek Cup, Euroleague and Greek League…We had many NBA officials that were more than generous with their time talking to us at the Summer League, and we would be more than willing to reciprocate with them in regard to any potentially false rumors associated with our club. We would like to maintain an excellent relationship with the entire NBA, because in the end we are all looking to promote the game of basketball.

With all of this camaraderie, maybe there is hope for a European division of the NBA eventually.  I highly doubt it, but just thought I would link to the interesting idea.  I think that the best plan is something that is actually not in the NBA’s hands.  In fact, it has more to do with you.  The Presidential election is less than one-hundred days away.  If you want to see the NBA gain back strength against the international market, vote for who you think will turn around our struggling economy.  The strength of the Euro against the Dollar has allowed teams like Olympiacos to sign players that we would have never imagined would leave the NBA for an Euroleague team a year ago.  Till then, agents will rightfully pit NBA teams against potential offers from overseas.