Chapter 723: Chapter 494: Seizing the Opportunity (Unity)_2 Chapter 723: Chapter 494: Seizing the Opportunity (Unity)_2 They believed this was the reason for the continuous losses incurred by the teams.

But their demands weren’t just about reducing the players’ revenue share.

Several new demands proposed by Stern include:
Under the new collective bargaining agreement, players would take 47%-51% of the basketball-related income each season; a hard salary cap like in the NFL;
Elimination of various exceptions to the salary cap (including Bird rights);
Each contract to have a maximum of four years of guaranteed money;
If this new collective bargaining agreement passed, all players in the league would have to renegotiate their contracts.

“Why don’t you just go all the way and eliminate free agency altogether,” Fisher asked with a smile, “and take us back to the 60s.”

The league’s new demands hit the players’ union’s G-spot, each one of them.

Historically, each issue was worth a lockout.

But now all were raised at once, did they not want to reach a deal?

Yu Fei inexplicably recalled Lu Xun’s famous phrase “The Chinese are the most devoted to moderation…”, in fact, this saying mirrors the classic negotiation tactic. First lay down a condition that the other party could never agree to, then negotiate slowly.

Yu Fei believed that this was exactly what the league was planning now.

He also knew that his role for that day was done.

His purpose was to spar with traitor players-turned-owners like Jordan, leaving the more professional matters to the professionals.

The meeting today appeared to be for airing views, but in reality, it was the league’s final ultimatum to the players’ union.

The old collective bargaining agreement was set to expire in the summer of 2011, but the league didn’t want to wait until then.

“In five years, the league has suffered losses of 500 million US dollars,” Stern stated seriously, “We can’t claim the NBA is the best basketball league in the world while experiencing massive losses. This situation must end!”

Fisher retorted unwaveringly, “The losses aren’t our fault, and we won’t bear the consequences of the owners’ poor management.”

The parties left dissatisfied.

Stern was ready to hold a press conference to let people know that the labor and management sides had serious differences.

Meanwhile, Supersonics owner Clay Bennett didn’t understand why there was such a big disagreement on the scene.

“Do we really need to take such a hard line?”

Such mild remarks coming from a rugged northwest man like Bennett were truly amusing.

What Jordan hated most was big-market owners who neither contributed to the collective bargaining agreement nor wanted to give up any benefits. Now, Bennett was speaking these wishy-washy words, and Jordan’s anger resurfaced.

“If you damn big owners were willing to share profits, we wouldn’t have to do this!” Jordan said angrily.

“Profit sharing?” Bennett looked at Stern, “Are you referring to what I think you are?”

Stern, who was very close to Bennett, saw his old friend’s guarded expression and nodded with a smile, “Yes, Clay, that’s exactly what you’re thinking. If you big earners are willing to share profits with the small-market teams, we wouldn’t have any problems.”

That’s why Clay Bennett was the only owner attending the meeting.

Because he didn’t understand the deepest contradiction in the labor dispute.

That was the immense disparity in commercial value between big cities and small towns.

Now, Bennett understood everything.

Supersonics brought him profits of over a hundred million dollars a year, which was a large sum for him, but what if that money was divided by thirty? It wouldn’t be much anymore.

Why should his team’s hard-earned money be shared with paupers like Jordan?

“Indeed, the players’ share of the profits is too much,” Bennett said, clearly knowing which side he should stand on, “I fully support the league’s decision!”

After the meeting, Fisher sent texts to other stars, relaying exactly what had happened today.

The union needed these stars to rally together and pressure the league.

Thus, in just one day, NBA stars were protesting everywhere against the league for breaking the agreement, expressing contempt for the unreasonable proposals.

James said, “If necessary, we’ll fight like Dr. King. The league doesn’t want us to become our own kings, so we’ll fight for the kingdom!”

After the commotion, Clay Bennett was put forward as the representative of the owners to give an interview, stating they would “suspend” pushing forward the new proposals.

This did not mean that their position had softened, nor did it mean they would stop trying to change the existing structure of the NBA’s labor agreement when necessary.

This was a delaying tactic, but it was effective.

The stars thought they had succeeded in exerting pressure, but the union’s experts were aware that this was just the beginning.

After this incident, Yu Fei had a rough understanding of the potential lockout crisis.

His conclusion was that a lockout in 2011 could happen with or without him, but if a lockout must occur, from the players’ perspective, the sooner, the better.

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Because next season, the NBA’s six-year, 7.5 billion US dollar broadcast contract with major cable channels would kick in. Waiting until next summer to protest would leave the owners unfazed. Because the contract would already be in effect, and the only losses would be ticket sales and advertising fees, which for most teams, compared to the broadcast contract revenue, weren’t the bulk of their income. So if a lockout happens then, it’s the players’ income that would suffer.

If the dispute started this summer, it would be different.

If a lockout affected the new season, major television networks could use this as an opportunity to renegotiate.

That was Yu Fei’s idea, and he didn’t know what the players’ union had planned.

For the union, maintaining the status quo would be best, a 57% income distribution was satisfying enough, and anything about seeking more benefits for the middle and lower-tier players was just an empty slogan.