It’s called the Superstar Theory. It demonstrates the extraordinary importance for an NBA team to have a dominant superstar if it is going to be a serious contender, not to mention win an NBA title. The discussion of how best to understand the Miami Heat’s coup to achieve instant dominance of the league over the next six years yields some striking lessons which are not yet fully understood.

What does this means for the rest of the teams in the NBA and the future of the association, if not sports, as a whole?

Read the full article here.

David Stern Unbiased in Labor Wars?

by Scott Weiss

Chris Mannix of SI.Com reported on David Stern’s press conference in Las Vegas on Monday regarding his thoughts about the upcoming NBA labor wars.  “Basically where we are at is that we would like fundamental changes,” said Stern, “and the players would very much like the present system to continue.”  I could express my opinion on which side is right and which side is wrong regarding the looming collective bargaining negotiations, but that is not what is important to the fans.  The big problem here is that when Stern uses the word “we,” he is referring to the NBA owners.  The NBA Commissioner should be representing the best interests of the NBA, inclusive of not only the owners, but also the players and fans.

There is nothing wrong with the owners having a representative to trumpet their cause.  The players association has a leader, so the owners should have one as well.  So, let’s call David Stern what he is: the NBA owners rep.  Let me throw this radical idea out there for you to chew on: The NBA Commissioner should be jointly selected by the owners, players and fans (SFC).  This person should act solely in the game’s best interest, not just the interests of one party.  Do you think that work stoppages would occur if there was a neutral Commissioner?  My answer? No way.

Scott Weiss is the Local Chapter Chair for SFC-New York/New Jersey.  He has been involved in the sports fans advocacy movement since 2000.  He is a life long fan of the Mets, Jets, Knicks, and Rangers.

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A Story the New York Giants Don’t Want You to Hear

by Scott Weiss

Amidst all the hoopla surrounding the Giants moving into their new stadium and New York/New Jersey securing the 2014 Super Bowl are stories like this that the Giants don’t want you to hear. Several months back, I had the opportunity to speak to a life long Giants season ticket holder who represented the many disgruntled diehards of Big Blue.

Jim shared with me that his family has had 6 season tickets (originally purchased by his father) since 1956. He remembers going to see the Giants play the Jaycee Classic at Palmer Stadium in Princeton, New Jersey when he was 7 years old. In the old stadium, their 6 seats were on the 30 yard line, 16 rows up behind the Giants bench. In the year 2000, the seats cost $45 a piece, last year they cost $100 a piece, and hold on to your hat, in the new stadium the Giants are asking $700 a piece. Not only that, but they are also asking for $20,000 per seat for the seat license fee. Needless to say, Jim and his family have been forced to give up all 6 seats because of the exorbitant cost. Instead, the family has decided to go for 6 seats in the upper deck ($1000 seat license fee and $95 per ticket each). The family was required to put 20% down in August 2008, another 40% down in August 2009, and the remaining 40% balance in March 2010 toward the seat license fee. He said that the Giants were not even releasing the seat location until early in 2010. Jim said that he was unsure if the family would even accept the tickets at the end of the day. Meanwhile, the Giants got to hold onto to their money for a year and a half.

So, when Giants fans should be celebrating their team’s move to a new stadium, most are nursing their wounds from being fleeced by their greedy ownership. Maybe I missed something, but when did attending a professional sporting event become the privilege of a select few? It’s time for fans to gain some respect from the sports establishment, and SFC can take us there.

Scott Weiss is the Local Chapter Chair for SFC-New York/New Jersey. He has been involved in the sports fans advocacy movement since 2000. He is a life long fan of the Mets, Jets, Knicks, and Rangers.

Become a fan of SFC-NY-NY on Facebook.

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MLB Rolls Weighted Dice With Postseason PSL’s

by Jeremiah Tittle

While PSL’s (personal seat licenses) in football are a big money maker and predictably frustrate fans to no end, MLB hasn’t caught on to this practice yet has implimented a mutation of the sports fan cash grab which has raised a few eyebrows since its announcement yesterday.

This hideous new policy infects how baseball fans purchase postseason tickets.  You’re now allowed to purchase “reservations” to buy tickets for your teams home games.  The problem is, the reservation is 1) non-refundable, even if your team misses the playoffs or doesn’t need to play that game 2) doesn’t count against the face value cost of the ticket and 3) Automatically charges you for the tickets that you’ve reserved, for that game if and when your team makes the playoffs.  (Plus there’s a service fee, for the reservation.)

Personally I find this practice galling, and can only imagine the slippery slope this leads us down (i.e. Cubs did a Pre-Sale this year where you could buy tickets for a 20% markup before they went on sale to the public).

Read the full article here or continue reading below.  Then, feel free to take a shower to wash off the greed-laden slime encountered along the way. There’s nothing like quoting racists and post-season performers alike to inspire fans of losing clubs to pay just in case their teams punch their ticket to October baseball.

Much like the marketing philosophy behind PSL’s, MLB asked itself, ‘How do we get fans to pay, and then, pay again?  Furthermore, how do we get them to pay for absolutely nothing?’  Much like the house sets the rules in a casino, MLB is guaranteeing many sports fans will lose their shirts on this new policy while Selig & co. stuff their coffers.

It would be funny if it wasn’t so hypocritical that gambling is the number one taboo with signs posted in every Major League locker room around the country. For sports fans who can’t resist this temptation, it’s time to double down.

Jeremiah Tittle is the Managing Editor of SportsFansCoalition.org. Reach him at Jeremiah@SportsFansCoalition.org.

By Mark Newman / MLB.com
06/30/10 7:00 PM ET

Eight Major League Baseball clubs will celebrate hard-fought, much-deserved trips to the postseason this fall. Then amid all that civic pride, fans will compete with the masses as demand exceeds supply and tickets become hot commodities.

You probably know that feeling. This time there is a way to handle it proactively.

MLB.com is offering you the opportunity now to buy tickets at the face value price for your favorite team. Postseason Ticket Reservations is a new feature intended to broaden potential access to these valuable seats, ensuring you that if your team plays in a game you reserve, you get to buy a face-value ticket and go to the game.

Let’s take the defending National League champs as an example. If you purchase a National League Division Series Home Game 1 reservation for the Phillies and they qualify for the postseason, your selected game will occur and a reservation would allow you to purchase a ticket for the first home Division Series game at Citizens Bank Park (either Game 1 or Game 3 of the Division Series, depending on whether the Phillies have home field advantage in the series).

The cost for each transaction is $10 for the Division Series, $15 for the League Championship Series and $20 for the World Series. The maximum purchase for each game is two reservations per household per team per series. So it would cost $90 now if you wanted to reserve two tickets for one game of all three possible postseason rounds, for example.

Just select the team for which you would like to purchase a reservation. Then select the series and home game, and purchase the reservation. If your selected team plays in the postseason game for which you’ve purchased a reservation, you will be guaranteed the opportunity to buy tickets for that game at the face value price.

Think of it as investing in futures. Sure, there is some degree of chance involved. Competitive balance is great in 2010, and there will no doubt be frantic finishes throughout the standings. Your team might be one of the 22 that goes home after the final scheduled regular season games are played on that Sunday, Oct. 3. Then again, it might win a clincher.

“I never could stand losing,” Hall of Famer Ty Cobb once said. “Second place didn’t interest me. I had a fire in my belly.”

“What are we out at the park for, except to win?” asked Leo Durocher, who won two World Series as a player and another as a manager.

How optimistic are you?

Emotions will run high for playoff clubs. So will ticket costs. With Postseason Ticket Reservations, you can spend a little now to avoid the possibility of a large expenditure later. It is a new option for 2010, and available for all fans right now.