I like how you show all those who are affected in the very beginning before you even mention the fans. One suggestion I might add is - write it in a way to make them feel bad for what they are doing, make them feel emotionally guilty. We would need to maybe further elaborate the consequences their actions are having on the innocent workers. All this goes for both parties - players and owners. I also like how the letter makes our (the fans) position neutral. The letter should make both parties feel they are becoming alienated from the fans. Both parties should be made to be felt like they are the villains. Just my two cents......
For this to gain traction, the letter needs to express the fans displeasure and point out that we will not necessarily welcome them back easily after this, but without attacking the sides. Especially in a badly managed negotiation like this, a third party attacking both sides for their actions, no matter how reprehensible, is often responded with defensive responses to shift blame to the other party. For example, remove "ego-driven" resulting in "The negotiation tactics employed by both parties in this lockout have produced no results, only bruised egos and lost games." Change "wrong" to "mistaken". Remove the "neglected" sentence or move it to after that paragraph. Change sentence to "You are pushing us away, and we, a generation tired of money-hoarding egos, will eventually leave you." Those are just examples. I also feel the need to post this... <object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wEdgzndKuog?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wEdgzndKuog?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object> (In no way am I advocating blowing up a NBA-related enterprise to make a statement.)
I don't want to get in the way of your effort - couldn't hurt, right? -- and I think you are right that the fans are the third but silent element. I just see the mechanics differently. First, I don't think a successful fan protest would put any pressure on players to cut a deal. The players would see the pressure put on the league and know that the league's leverage was diminished and push harder for a favorable deal. Fan discontent will affect the league directly while the players are mostly protected by guaranteed contracts and the pressure on teams to hire the best players and be competitive to win back fans. Still, putting pressure on the league can still end the lockout faster. Second, I don't think declarations of discontent will mean much to the league. They won't believe the fans will follow through. After all, if you care enough about NBA basketball that you would organize to put pressure to end the lockout, then you probably won't be able to stay away once it starts. Third, Netflix had a million customers vote with their feet. To put pressure on the league, you need season ticket holders to cancel en masse. My suggestion would be to target this population and convince them to actually cancel. That seems like a hard sell because people who give up good seats might have trouble getting good ones again, plus it's a demographic that probably sides with the league, plus teams are probably offering them all sorts of concessions to keep them happy.
Thanks for your comments guys. I was myself wavering between putting direct blame on each respective side or just stated our presence in this letter. I will draw up another draft today and post it with that in mind to see how it feels. To JuanValdez, I completely understand your submission about how the Netflix example doesn't parallel this situation. The truth is that people will still go to games, buy NBA league pass, and buy jerseys. I think the message I want to emphasize on this is that the NBA wether anyone likes it or not has always played second fiddle to the NFL. The NBA is not Americas sport. When this lockout is over, the NBA will not be as well regarded as when this all started, and American and the World will not let it back in with open arms. I talked about Netflix because of how that remarkable amount of immediate backlash by individual customers - which was driven by countless news stories - changed Netflix's whole new business strategy within 22 days. I want the NBA and the NBPA to hear the voice of the fans from the fans. We have only been represented as little blips in random articles in the blogoverse as a "loser" of this whole situation. We have not spoken about anything ourselves. We have not spoken about how we will react. We will not be losers of this, we will be changed because of this. And I believe a letter with this message will carry weight and at the very least, drive our message into this debate even if it only causes a hesitation or a second thought.
Totally agree B&B. Even while it is true that a massive fan following decrying the current "negotiations" won't force anyone to make a deal, one should not be resolved to do nothing and sit back and take it. At least if the fans attempt an organized response and message to the league in the form of a letter, viral Youtube video's, etc.; it shows some willingness to speak out. Having said that, the only way to force anyone's hand from an outside party is for the following 3 things to happen: 1. Endorsement contracts being canceled or "opted out". This all depends on the way the contract is worded. Most contracts require the parties to keep the other entity in their best interest. So if there is no season, there is no advertisement. Do the corporations still have to pay the contracts? Can they claim that they don't have to? 2. Companies canceling season tickets to expensive seats. (Though this could happen given a recession, and if there are NO games you can't entertain clients. Waste of money for companies.) 3. Season ticket holders canceling their seat as previously mentioned above. However, the season ticket issue may be moot because I could see teams refunding those people for games that did not take place and hold the rest of their reservations.
I don't think that forcing the hand of either parties is even possible. I just want to be represented as a factor in this whole situation just like all of you. Maybe they read this letter and go "hahha stupid little fans, who cares..." and toss it into the trash, but maybe it becomes an overwhelming public / social media catastrophe that they cannot avoid any further. If something like this grew large and in the face of these two parties, I would think at the very least, we would be privy to one of the sides trying to 'win the hearts of the fans' by releasing some information we weren't privy to for the past 4 months. And that would only be the start. We are also economists, business professionals, and have a collective mind of thousands of years of schooling and business experience. The pressure put on these parties to make a deal by an educated group empowered with the knowledge of the situation cannot be discounted.
Someone started this twitter page http://twitter.com/#!/FOTL11 for fans to voice their displeasure about the lockout. All the tweets are also showing up on their site: http://faceofthelockout.com/ Looks like it just started up today. Maybe you can send your letter for these guys to put up on their site if you don't start up one of your own.
Thank you! Ill try to get in touch with them after work. Ill keep it posted here if anything comes up
You mean how the fans didn't welcome them back after the last work stoppage? Or how about how the NFL fans not welcoming the NFL players back? Or perhaps how baseball fans didn't welcome them back? They'll get welcomed back by the fan base when a settlement is reached.
The NFL is a different sport that dominates American sports culture. Their lockout did not cancel any games. Why are you comparing that to this? Your also referring to lockouts that happend in the NBA and MLB over 10-15 years ago. We didn't have any social connectivity in the 1990's. The individual did not hold any power.
I was referring to the NFL strike a number of years back, not the recent lockout. Regardless of when the stoppages occurred, fans are the same. They will return to watching their favorite teams and players. When the Rockets start playing again and are relevant again, they will once again have a rabid fanbase.
By all means, do what you think is best. I am just saying that regardless of what happens, fans will be back. The owners know that and the players know that and, regardless of what the fans say, the fans know that.
