Wouldn't the first hurdle for the Sharks' ownership be acquiring a local TV station? And then the second question becomes - does the FCC have licensing rules which prohibit foreign and/or Communist ownership? If the Sharks' ownership was able to pull this off, imagine the potential profits for them given the huge Asian market. If the Rockets make the playoffs this season and get into the WC Finals within 2-3 years, this could be huge...and I'm sure Les this businessman knows it.
Lets see, the Rockets signed him to a long term contract and he followed that up by averaging about 5 apg off the bench, yet he's not an NBA player and he's not in the Rockets future? What!? And what makes you think the Rockets will trade Norris? And who would take him, he's a back-up for the Rockets!
From the chronical: Neither Alexander nor Yao's agent, Erick Zhang, would discuss details of their negotiations, though both said they have reached agreement on the value of Yao's contract, which is limited by the collective bargaining agreement, and the up-front payment Yao would receive. I know it does not directly say that the money issues have been settled but it seems to imply that to me. And while there is not a direct quote from Les it does seem to state that he and Zhang both made statements or answered questions saying that the money issues have been resolved.
crash, Les also said this, "<i>Their agents want some things we haven't been willing to deliver. </i>" What does that mean? That is a 100% turnaround to what Goldberg/CD said in July when they said it was all a formality here on out. Les even states this is not a "formality." What things that aren't money are more than a formality, and why didn't he blame it more directly on Wang, like others did. Your quote only implies to me that there is no money issue with Yao contract, which there can't be (except for a 25% portion going to the Sharks or any party). But there is something, and it is being negotiated. Is it the 25% signing bonus that can go directly to any party?? I'm asking Jeff if he heard on the radio whether Les qualified the statement about "they're still negotiating" by adding that it doesn't have anything to do with money. GATER, I'm not following. Les doesn't have a TV station, but he owns his local rights, and he can sell them to someone who wants to control licensing of them, or he can license it himself, directly to the competing TV stations. I guess I'm not explaining it very well, but it has nothing to do with running a TV station or broadcast on the FCC airwaves other than from the stadium to the TV station. futher things they could be negotiating. They also could be negotiating naming rights on the stadium with some Chinese/HK multinational company. There is a lot they could be negotiating. I don't like it...makes me nervous that Les is taking negotiations to the wire.
I asked this same question of them about a month and a half ago and I was told that they cannot sell or negotiate broadcast fees or rights outside a 35 mile radius of Houston. The NBA owns ALL broadcast rights beyond that point including internationally. I'm sure they'd love to sell the rights to a cable network in China but they aren't allowed under league rules.
Jeff, You misunderstand what I was saying. The franchise can sell ownership of that 35 mile radius. Not all teams cut their own broadcast deals. Some sell the right to allow someone else to cut those 35-mile radius deals. I'm not suggesting broadcasts in China. As you can see in my first post, I stated that I originally thought the hangup of Ming signing could be China negotiating with Stern for NBA rights to broadcast in China. That's not want I'm talking about here. I'm talking about Les's rights to negotiate TV deals for the 35-mile radius, or sell those rights for the 35-mile radius. What are things that the agents of Shanghai TV or Yao or the CBA could be interested in that Les owns and is free to negotiate? Les said "his agents." Is he really talking about the cousin? If so, what does Yao's agents want, more salary not being taken away by the Sharks?????
The year they dumped pippen, still had barkeley and hakeem, and traded for francis. Les and co talked about how this year would be special (except for barkeley who said their team sucked) and even before injuries the team started 2-7 or whatever. Les said it when they traded for Barkeley. He's always saying it after some trade or acquisition.
Considering Les was all for the Griffin trade and against the TMo trade, I have a lot of faith in his talent of basketball evaluation
NewYorker, We traded for Drexler and won a ring. We traded for Barkley and went 21-2 out of the gate. No wonder he said that about Barkley. Barkley said it, too. When someone like Bakley gets excited, it is infectious. I don't recall him saying that about the promising Francis 1st yr after Pippen broke it up. Really??
Just to clarify ... there is no connection between negotiations on Yao Ming's contract and negotiations for local TV coverage. To be honest, it's not even the same teams within the organization that are engaged in those negotiations. Although there are many exceptions (sports broadcast being a complicated field), many of the TV deals work one of two ways -- either the station pays the team a rights fee and then attempts to make the investment back by selling the advertising time, or the team pays the station a fee and sells the advertising itself, primarily to sponsors. And, as mentioned earlier, teams in the NBA only have rights to their local broadcasts -- the NBA as a league controls everything outside of a radius, including international broadcasts. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming ... Tim
Great Tim, thanks. That's one reason shot down!! Now if we could just get you to scoop what Les IS negotiating. I guess we have to rely on the process of elimination. lol
The NBA analyst on ESPN, can't think of the a-holes name, something Aldridge right?, just called Alexander a moron for: a.) Considering our lineup to be very good, much less one of the greats and b.) For putting this kind of pressure on the team and coaching staff. Discuss.
Ron (Houston): What do you think is going to happen with Wang Zhi Zhi this season & will that have any effect on the Yao Ming negotiations with the Rockets? Marc Stein: LOTS of Wang Zhizhi questions here. The situation with Wang has definitely had an effect on Yao. The Chinese authorities are not pleased that Wang defied multiple orders to come home this summer and then refused to play in the Asian Games in October, which knocked him off the national team for the Worlds. The government isn't in a real rush to promise Yao to a league that is about to employ an AWOL soldier. And Wang is going to end up in the league this season. The Mavs are working hard to move him. Miami, Toronto, Golden State and New York are the primary suitors -- problem is, Mavs want a first-round pick in return and none of those teams really want to part with one. Toronto just used a future first in the Lamond Murray deal, so that probably takes the Raps out of the Wang derby. Yao is going to get here eventually, but it won't surprise anyone if he misses all of camp. Various parties in the league office have told me on multiple occasions that Wang is welcome to sign with a new NBA team no matter how that impacts Yao's timetable, so this story isn't going away. I got this from http://dynamic.espn.go.com/espn/chat/chatESPN?event_id=2442 damn wang he is the rockets biggest opponent this off season
yeah, that was me that asked that question to the ESPN basketball writer. I also was watching Pardon the Interuption on ESPN and they had a segment on the Rockets. I forgot the text of the question & e-mailed PTI (ESPN) and they got back to me with the text. Michael Wilbon: David, the hyperbole leading into the upcoming NBA season has officially started. Les Alexander, the Houston Rockets owner, not only is convinced his team will make the playoffs this year, but he said, "I think this is one of the great teams ever assembled." David Aldridge, I know the Rockets have Yao Ming and Steve Francis, which gives Houston two great building blocks. But why is Alexander putting this kind of pressure on his players and Rudy T.? Then they went into unscripted dialogue for a few seconds to fill in time before the next topic: David started out by saying: I got two words for you. Mo Ron. He finished it off by saying: Maybe in 3 years they will develop some chemistry. Get back to me in 2005!"
HP, Maybe they are negotiating on advertising/merchandising sales monies/%'s. There is probably a lot of money to barter over sales of Yao/team merchandise in the US and China and they could be asking for more of th epie than Les wants to give up.
Your right. I remember that when they traded for Barkley, Les said the trade would result in the Rockets winning "many championships." I seem to remember another quote at one time from Les that also sounded like bravado, but it escapes me right now (maybe MoT being one the of great power forwards in the game, or something like that?). But I got the impression that sometimes in interviews Les gets real excited, and maybe goes a little overboard. Almost like youthful exuberence, which you can't fault. But I think the handlers try to keep Les away from the mike as much as possible, because he is not the most gifted speaker/salesman. He certainly was not a front man in the P.R. campaign for the new arena. This is in direct contrast with Drayton McLane, who is a great P.R. guy and is adept a conning all of us into believing that he is putting the best product on the field that he can afford.
Ok, the "greatest team ever assembled" quote deserves some scorn. I'm as excited about anyone about this season, but our best player has never even been in an NBA playoff game, and his credentials to be on "the best team ever assembled" are seriously questionable. I do think Alexander did himself the Rockets and fans a disservice even by saying it. I don't care that he'll make extra millions by feeding the Yao hype, and I don't care if he was throwing down the gaunlet to Rudy. It's just stupid. If we have injuries or Mo or Rice just can't get it done, Yao & Boki have mediocre rookie seasons and Steve and Cat go ballistic if we're a .500 team, the Houstonians who aren't real fans and are just getting overwhelmed by the hype will make Alexander pay dearly when he moves into the new arena next year. Then he probably would fire Rudy. Chemistry questions are legitamate. The Western Conference has improved. I think we'll make the playoffs, but there are some serious questions about us actually doing it. This CBA clearance thing just irritates and worries me. Rockets fans blaming Wang Zhi Zhi for this annoys the hell out of me. And when casual fans and/or others yelp all over again about how the Rockets were stupid to pick Yao, I'm just going to shake my head. This team has been rebuilt quickly and beautifully - not perfectly. We're going to be very good at some point, but maybe not this year.
