NBA Betting: Today June 30th is Deadline Day to Avoid Lockout
Thursday, June 30, 2011
by Bodog Sportsbook
The collective bargaining agreement between NBA players and owners expires at midnight tonight, meaning it’s almost certain that ownership will lock out the players on Friday for the first work stoppage in the NBA since the 1998-99 season that was shortened to 50 games.
Negotiators for owners and players will meet Thursday, but the sides remain far apart on just about every major issue, from salaries to the salary cap, revenues to revenue sharing. Hundreds of millions of dollars still separate proposals from the owners and players, almost certainly too large a divide to bridge in negotiations at the last minute.
League executives and owners want a new financial system for the NBA with a tougher salary cap (essentially a hard cap), shorter contracts and a greater share of basketball-related income — everything from ticket sales to TV revenue to merchandise. Saying 22 of 30 teams lost money last season, they want players' salaries and benefits drastically reduced, by as much as $800 million per season. Players want to protect many of the benefits they enjoy under the current deal, such as a soft salary cap, contract lengths that can extend to five or six years and more than half of basketball-related income. Players currently enjoy a 57-43 split in total revenue and get in excess of $2 billion annually, as guaranteed by owners when the two sides averted a lockout in 2005.
One report suggest that if the players don't except the owners' latest offer (which includes a $62 million flex-cap), they will then ask for a hard cap of $45 million and start the lockout on Friday, with a majority of owners ready to lose the entire 2011-12 season. The report also states that if the current offer is rejected, a guarantee of $2 billion in annual player payroll will also be withdrawn.
For what it’s worth, the Miami Heat are the 2012 NBA title favorite at 5/2 on Bodog Sportsbook’s NBA futures odds.
Bet on NBA futures odds now at the basketball betting leader: Bodog Sportsbook!
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