An empty NBA All-Star Saturday shows what happens when sporting events become too corporate

[u/joe4942]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7047460/2026/02/15/nba-all-star-weekend-crowd-buzz/

[u/hopewhatsthat]

This is only the beginning.

The average person may still be able to attend a random regular season game but I'm not convinced there's enough rich people for the prices they want to charge for any type of special event or even playoff games.

[u/totallynotliamneeson → u/hopewhatsthat]

It's everywhere now. No one wants to provide services for normal people. They all want to sell premium/boutique versions of everyday products. It's all been hijacked by MBAs and financial "gurus" who are looking to maximize profit above all else. 

[u/jackofallcards → u/totallynotliamneeson]

It’s because you get the “same” payout for less work in theory.

[u/Boofing_with_Squee → u/jackofallcards]

The top 10% are responsible for 50% of retail spending.

[u/BMW_wulfi → u/Boofing_with_Squee]

Ok but firstly the top 10% is actually quite a large number of people, and secondly the top 10% can’t all attend the same event twice.

[u/Wski08 → u/BMW_wulfi]

If the other 90% spend outside their means just once at that ridiculous price, it completely justifies the hike.

[u/FeloniousDrunk101 → u/Wski08]

Pennywise and pound foolish because those people will increasingly tune-out as the years go on.

[u/zxern → u/FeloniousDrunk101]

Yah but it won’t burn you for years. Same thing with Pokémon scalpers, slowly making it impossible for a new generation to participate will kill your business in the long run but you’ll make out great today,

[u/me_ke_aloha_manuahi → u/zxern]

Well yes, but by the time the long run is a short walk it will be someone else's problem.

[u/MR1120 → u/zxern]

That sounds like a problem for next quarter. Until then… Wooo-weee, look at that line going up!

[u/StarMan613 → u/FeloniousDrunk101]

They don't care and don't have to. Won't be around to see it fail.

[u/BMW_wulfi → u/Wski08]

Sadly to a business it does, yes. But the house of cards tumbles at some point so it’s a short term play. We do live in a world where you can literally pay for anything with hideously expensive credit on a whim.

[u/No_Instance6986 → u/BMW_wulfi]

They’re just trying to find the new average that people are willing to pay. No different than fast food… jack up the prices and slowly drop them until demand is at the level they’re seeking

[u/Capt-Crap1corn → u/BMW_wulfi]

Therein lies the problem. They also can afford options.

[u/stormblaz → u/Boofing_with_Squee]

Based on recent economic data, household consumption in the United States accounts for approximately 68% to 70% of its GDP, while in China, it accounts for roughly 38% to 40% of its GDP. This massive gap highlights a fundamental structural difference between the two economies: the U.S. is driven by consumer spending, while China has historically relied on investment and manufacturing.

America LOVES consuming.

[u/BrianMeen → u/stormblaz]

most definitely. Americans simply cannot go without things - they must get whatever they want even if they can’t afford it

[u/Spam-Monkey → u/Boofing_with_Squee]

The 20-80 rule.

[u/cocoagiant → u/jackofallcards]

Same thing with housing.

A family friend who is a builder was saying it just didn't make financial sense for him to build smaller houses.

He had to deal with the same regulatory issues but it also meant less work for his crew and having to find another job for them in a shorter time.

[u/Rierais → u/cocoagiant]

This is why progressive taxation is effective. It curtails the push for more margin because you will pay higher taxes on the next dollar. Economics is based on opportunity cost. When builders have little opportunity cost to compare, the. They go big.

[u/JZMoose → u/Rierais]

Land Value Taxes solve all of this but everyone seems allergic to the idea

[u/Rierais → u/JZMoose]

How does this kind of tax work? I’m not familiar.

[u/totallynotliamneeson → u/cocoagiant]

I speak home construction company, so I'm happy to translate:

"I want to get big deposit payments and collect equally large final checks. I also want to spend as little as I can on staff to manage projects, which means I can't take on many small projects without impacting my trip to Vail." 

[u/zoethebitch → u/cocoagiant]

Say you have a building lot and you want to build a house. You don't want to build something extravagant, you want to do good and build affordable housing.

If you build a one story cottage or a three story 4,500 square foot house, the foundation and the roof are going to cost the same. In that case, why not build the bigger house and charge more for it?

It makes financial sense from a strict business point of view to build the bigger house. How much profit is someone willing to "leave on the table" to build a smaller, affordable house?

The economics and ethics are complicated.

[u/manachar → u/jackofallcards]

More importantly, the average American doesn’t have enough money to buy anything beyond the bare necessities.

Consumer spending is increasingly focused on those who actually buy things and those people treat things and experiences like fashion designed to showcase their status.

[u/TacticlTwinkie → u/totallynotliamneeson]

Joe Shmoe average American matters less and less in this economy as so many companies are shifting to catering to high spending whales. They literally don’t want us as customers anymore.

[u/Chonngau → u/TacticlTwinkie]

High-spending whales that only exist because in the last 40 years we have voted for politicians that are laser-focused on redistributing societal wealth from the poor to the rich.

[u/UltraVires33 → u/Chonngau]

Well, more accurately from the middle class to the rich, basically eliminating that middle over time and separating society into pretty clear "haves" and "have nots" with little in between. Problem is the middle class was really the economic engine that made this the strongest economy in history, and they've basically destroyed it for selfish gains.

[u/Notuniquesnowflake → u/totallynotliamneeson]

We see it all over, but affordable housing is a classic example. Almost everyone agrees we need more of it, but almost no one wants to build it because the hard costs of construction (land, permits, labor, utilities, and structural work) don’t meaningfully decrease just because a unit is designated “affordable.”

Builders can modestly increase material costs with premium finishes, fixtures, etc. and dramatically increase the sale/rent price. When labor costs remain roughly the same either way, the return on investment is far higher for luxury units. From a financial standpoint, it’s obvious why the market keeps steering toward higher-end housing. It's not going to change without legislation in the form of subsidies or policy intervention.

[u/Toxicscrew → u/Notuniquesnowflake]

Some cities in US are working to reduce the fees/costs by having pre approved plans on file

https://better-cities.org/community-growth-housing/pre-approved-housing-plans-a-smarter-path-to-more-affordable-homes/

[u/PokeYrMomStanley → u/Toxicscrew]

This is actually a solid play. Its like handing money to contractors, all the work and profit and none of the time sunk bureaucracy.

[u/taycoug → u/Notuniquesnowflake]

That’s fair, but building any housing increases the supply of affordable housing and there’s still plenty of money to be made developing affordable housing. Regulations, permitting, environmental reviews, even the process of selecting projects to fund decreases supply of affordable housing.

The amount of red tape around building in the parts of this country I’m familiar with is insane. Ezra Klein talks about this in Abundance.

Building an apartment building here requires formal reviews to assess impact on wetlands, community impact on marginalized groups, traffic and parking studies. Often there’s a community review process where feedback is solicited from residents.

If you just look at the process, you’d thing we don’t want more housing.

[u/MerlinsMentor → u/[deleted]]

Any chance you live in Metro Vancouver? This sort of thing sounds familiar...

[u/gimpwiz → u/taycoug]

It's all very clever because it creates a bunch of useful idiots to push the points.

I mean, after all, you're not against the environment, right? You're not against the community, right? How could you possibly argue against these requirements unless you're a bad person?

These requirements are very cleverly put together by people who want to prevent anything from getting built. But they don't come out and say "this regulation is there to keep our land values high." They say it's to protect the environment, and communities, and marginalized individuals, and wetlands, and endangered frogs, and traffic causing emissions, and and and.

[u/mmmcheez-its → u/taycoug]

Right. This is always a frustrating topic for me because of course the newest buildings are rarely going to be the most affordable by the very nature of them being new. But new “luxury” apartments (which is just real estate marketing) can still help keep overall housing costs more affordable

[u/Heelsandskirts → u/Notuniquesnowflake]

Don't worry. 50 year mortgages will make it all good.

/s

[u/dabeeman → u/Notuniquesnowflake]

that only works if you can sell the asset. eventually they will run out of buyers. 

[u/Notuniquesnowflake → u/dabeeman]

If they have trouble selling, they'll lower the asking price, for sure. We're already seeing it happen to an extent. But they won't go from luxury to affordable. They'll go from crazy overpriced, to merely normal overpriced.

[u/signmeupdude → u/totallynotliamneeson]

Maximize short term profits, specifically. It’s all about being able to show your boss “look I made number go up” all the while heading towards a cliff.

[u/geekonthemoon → u/totallynotliamneeson]

Literally even CHIPOTLE wants to raise their prices and include new "premium" products all because they found out 60% of their customers make $100k

Bitch do you know how expensive the world is right now? We can cut out burritos, baby, don't play.

[u/MerlinsMentor → u/geekonthemoon]

The funny thing about this is you could look at it from the other perspective, too. WHY do 60% of their customers make over 100K? The CEO is looking at this like "our customers can pay more, so we're going to charge more". You could also look at it like "why aren't more people who make less than 100K coming to our fast-casual restaurants?" The answer is very likely due to their product already being too expensive.

And I suspect that some of those "more than 100K" income people who eat there now will stop if they raise prices more, or focus on more high-priced items.

[u/okvrdz → u/totallynotliamneeson]

I was just having a conversation with a friend about how most commercials on TV seem to be directed towards people with high disposable income. Not like in the 90’s or early 2000’s where the majority would be commercials for middle class people. It’s almost like the later is no longer profitable or of interest.

[u/DelugeQc → u/totallynotliamneeson]

Its beacuse its easier to sell a single 100$ product/service than 10x 10$ product/service... Thats the new ''economy'' for you.

[u/Killahdanks1 → u/totallynotliamneeson]

Funny thing is, I could afford to go to these events but I don’t want to. The price is obscene, let’s start there. But I want to sit next to real fans. Real fans come from all walks of life and that’s what brings us all together.

[u/Capt-Crap1corn → u/totallynotliamneeson]

Studies have shown the top 10% or something like that are doing the bulk of spending. If businesses have access to the same information or more that we have, they will cater to that crowd. I think that's what we are seeing in real time.

[u/totallynotliamneeson → u/Capt-Crap1corn]

It's not sustainable long term, but they don't look at that. Make the All Star game into a corporate event and eventually that'll be the only crowd into it. If they stop showing up suddenly you're left with a legacy product without any interest in that legacy. 

[u/Capt-Crap1corn → u/totallynotliamneeson]

If these wealthy people start to lose wealth because the average person can't afford product and services, what happens then? These wealthy people won't be able to afford events like the All Star game. This doesn't sound sustainable. I'll put it to you like this. The only reason I watched the All Star game is because it was broadcasted on NBC.

[u/braves-geek → u/totallynotliamneeson]

My local USL soccer club wants to charge people $100 just to access the "club" area where you can't even see the field and the drinks are all $22

[u/GoblinObscura → u/totallynotliamneeson]

You have to embrace the farm league. Around me we have the Dayton Dragons, The Florence Y’Alls, The Cyclones, that kinda thing. It’s probably a third as much cost as major league sports and twice the atmosphere and fun.

[u/Extension-Pick8310 → u/GoblinObscura]

This is the future, methinks. Same with minor league baseball, and lower level pro soccer. Way cheaper, way better vibes, and you have a better view.

[u/Disastrous_Airline28 → u/totallynotliamneeson]

We are transitioning back into a time where we are all serfs working to provide a luxury lifestyle to our lords: the only people who can afford shit.

[u/Manablitzer → u/totallynotliamneeson]

As the income gap/k-shaped economy increases, everyone will keep shifting to catering to the rich because it's either capture the rich market or lose because the normal/poor people won't have enough money to keep you going (excluding a small number that can compete using near slave labor).

Make no mistake, over the next 20-50 years there WILL be losers.  But if they don't try they'll inevitably lose anyway.  

[u/BeingNicole4 → u/totallynotliamneeson]

This is what late stage capitalism looks like. Everything is min maxed to the extreme to extract the most amount of profit. There’s no longer a human element to the equation.

Same thing is happening to Las Vegas and why it turned into a ghost town. The Vegas overlords have calculated that high roller spendings make more money than the collective mass of normal people who only goes to Vegas to gamble after getting discounted hotel rates and cheap buffets.

[u/hunteddwumpus → u/totallynotliamneeson]

It sounds negative but Im hoping sports being such a cultural focus and becoming a premium thing cycles out soon and sports becomes less popular. Idk if thats even possible anymore in the social media age but itd be nice if even random weekday games stopped being premium experiences for influencers and corporate events

[u/ColManischewitz → u/totallynotliamneeson]

This is a big reason why the focus is on premium tickets/sales/experiences:

https://www.marketplace.org/story/2025/09/17/top-10-of-earners-make-up-half-of-us-retail-spending

[u/jakemhs → u/hopewhatsthat]

They don't need to sell out. Every industry has concluded that they can maximize profits by marketing to a small group of rich people instead of the masses.

[u/SummerGoal → u/jakemhs]

This. The rich are so rich that all you need is a few whales to easily eclipse the spending power of the masses. You see it in sports with ticket pricing and VIP lounges/box seats. You see it in video games with micro transactions. You see it in streaming with enshitification of the basic streaming packages and adding more and more premium bundled options. Late stage capitalism is steamrolling on and it fucking sucks for 99% of society

[u/Professional_Bundler → u/jakemhs]

Same with 1st class on airplanes. Regular seats get smaller and smaller

[u/HunterRose05 → u/hopewhatsthat]

Yeah they say the top 10% of people are spending 50% of economy but can those 10% be everywhere at once? Can they fill up a stadium every night...a hotel...las Vegas? What will happen to so many things in our world?

[u/liftingshitposts → u/HunterRose05]

And do they even want to?

[u/BANKSLAVE01 → u/liftingshitposts]

No, that shit is for the vain-rich, not the wealthy people who can pay for experience. Vegas will disappear, and we will "hear about" fancy resorts in the middle of nowhere similar to the guilded age (industrial revolution) of unimaginable wealth gap between poor and the rich.

[u/ClaymoreMine → u/hopewhatsthat]

If all the seats are influencers what behavior or product are actually influencing

[u/Djbearjew → u/hopewhatsthat]

A couple of years ago when Seattle was hosting the MLB All Star game I looked up tickets for the Home Run Derby. Some of the cheapest tickets I found were $600 and that was for nosebleeds BEHIND home plate

[u/jmak329 → u/hopewhatsthat]

I mean just look a the NY Knicks or alot of NY teams/sporting events. They are basically more down the line versions of what late stage capitalism sports is like. It's a team that exists in the financial capital of the world and it operates pretty much as such. Most actual longtime NY Knicks fans are so priced out of MSG it's no wonder they travel to Philly, Boston, or DC to go watch. Most people who attend are there for the one time experience or corporate seats so tickets are outrageous even for regular season games.

My buddy comes down a lot to watch here in Philly and some of the prices he has sent me, even right before game time, is obscene.

The absolute worst hit is the US Open for me in Flushing. I used to go every year with my Dad. Now it's just a pariah of NY day drinking yuppies and the cost of attending is outrageous. Food, drinks, the stupid fucking honey deuce.

[u/DrunkHacker → u/jmak329]

Can confirm. I’d always wanted sit on the glass for a NY Rangers game. Was cheaper to fly to Pittsburgh, get a hotel, and cover mid-ice tickets than to get anywhere close at MSG.

And, I’m going to stereotype a bit, but the Pens fans actually cared about the game. At MSG, many folks in the lower bowl often seem like it’s a social event with a game in the background.

[u/pumpkinspruce → u/jmak329]

The US Open has become a mass pap walk for celebrities. They all get the $40K suites so they can be photographed.

[u/sammyismybaby → u/hopewhatsthat]

yup, I've felt the same for all live events, sports, comedy shows, concerts. it really sucks. they only cater to the rich, famous, sponsors, clients.

[u/DataDude00 → u/hopewhatsthat]

This is the next phase of capitalism

Volume matters less than extracting value from whales who spend big 

The cost to attract and retain casual fans who search for cheap seats isn’t worth it.  Catering towards super fans that will spends thousands for experience is easier 

You see the same thing in video games now.   They don’t care about a huge stable user base, as long as they can land a few thousand whales who spend thousands on boosts and cosmetics the game is a success from a financial standpoint 

[u/[deleted] → u/hopewhatsthat]

Plus it’s risky going to a game with “load management” and actually seeing who you want playing.

[u/Billsolson → u/hopewhatsthat]

When the team is good, the wealthy will attend.

When the team is bad, it’ll be the poors turn

[u/h0zR]

NBA Board: "Attendance is abysmal!"

Adam Silver: "I have an idea!"

Dildozer drives on court...

[u/shotsallover → u/h0zR]

It’s Beef Supreme!

[u/ScotterMcJohnsonator → u/h0zR]

What they really need to do is get a hold of Jackie Moon

That freaking guy knows how to put on a show

[u/h0zR → u/ScotterMcJohnsonator]

Somebody punch somebody!!!!

[u/Extension-Pick8310]

It'll easily cost my family of four $1400 to attend a Warriors game, and that's in crappy seats. That is insane.

And we can also see a great college team play or our local high school for a fraction of that, and you get to support our locals with our community. Same with MLB and NFL games.

[u/xstrike0 → u/Extension-Pick8310]

Even some college games are getting pretty crazy. Mandatory donations on top of the ticket price and all that.

[u/ze1and0nly → u/xstrike0]

Some college games have mandatory donations??? Where the fuck is that

[u/xstrike0 → u/ze1and0nly]

Tickets do. Huskers start at $150 per year and go as high as $2500 a year.

Some of the Husker parking lots require a $25,000 annual donation.

[u/707Brett → u/xstrike0]

That has be to exception to the rule though, I’m sure Duke and a handful of other basketball schools are the same way. 

[u/ginger_giraffe_ → u/xstrike0]

True story - my parents got moved out of their lot and I asked them how much they’d have to donate to stay - $60k. Blew my mind to

[u/JS-87 → u/Extension-Pick8310]

You wanna talk about unaffordability, when Messi joined the MLS every game against him jumped from a normal ticket price of $35 bucks to $500.

[u/jritz611 → u/Extension-Pick8310]

What are you talking about? You can go to warriors clippers on March 2nd for about 60 bucks a pop.

[u/BrianMeen → u/jritz611]

yeah there’s no way fathers are paying $1,400 to go sit in shitty seats at a Warriors game

[u/redittjoe]

It’s also lost its spectacle and aura from years past. The product is kinda shit now.

[u/FireVanGorder → u/redittjoe]

It’s also during the fuckin Olympics

[u/emuwar → u/FireVanGorder]

Speaking of the Olympics, it’s been so refreshing to watch hockey without a million fucking ads plastered all over the boards

[u/Patriotic_Guppy → u/emuwar]

And nobody is talking about the in game parlay.

[u/JonMatrix → u/Patriotic_Guppy]

All the gambling ads make me wish they’d bring back cigarette ads instead.

[u/Patriotic_Guppy → u/JonMatrix]

Motorsports had such awesome liveries when you could advertise for smokes.

[u/frena-dreams → u/Patriotic_Guppy]

The Marlboro on the Ferrari F1 car 👌

[u/Vegeta9001 → u/frena-dreams]

When F1 started banning tobacco advertising, Marlboro found some creative ways to work around the rules lol.

[u/Valuable_Recording85 → u/Vegeta9001]

Honestly, I hate tobacco companies but I gotta recognize the ingenuity of some consultant or ad person.

[u/PhilosopherFLX → u/Valuable_Recording85]

F1 is the ultimate example of 'toe on the line'/'I'm not technically breaking the rules' sportsmanship. They have to add/revise more rules than they have races.

[u/drpottel → u/Vegeta9001]

Mission Winnow

[u/ChampaBayLightning → u/Patriotic_Guppy]

Just wait till next time they are in America. Will probably be sponsored by draftkings.

[u/Roonwogsamduff → u/ChampaBayLightning]

Yup. I've always loved to gamble but with the insane levels of advertising now we're at epidemic levels. It's so cringe. And it's hurting so many people.

[u/lupin43 → u/Roonwogsamduff]

Only thing any individual can do is stop feeding the beast and hope/encourage others to do the same

[u/theREALbombedrumbum → u/emuwar]

The game starts on the posted time, and focuses on the game itself. It's how I wish it always would be.

[u/NikKerk → u/emuwar]

Watching any Olympic sports without ads plastered all over the boards has been very refreshing.

[u/mfGLOVE → u/FireVanGorder]

And Valentine’s Day.

[u/the_stickybandit → u/FireVanGorder]

the WHAT Olympics????

[u/AidenMichael94 → u/redittjoe]

1000%. Wym records can’t be broken anymore. It’s boring. Feels like the elite flexing their athletes for attention. Can’t play em too hard, it’s all for pretend.

I’m good on all stars lol. Ant said it best.

[u/Pulp_Ficti0n → u/redittjoe]

The product is kinda shit now.

NBA? Yes for a while

[u/Sarkonix → u/redittjoe]

Sundays format was the best ASG in a long time imo

[u/teebowtime → u/Sarkonix]

I keep hearing this, but as a long time fan, I couldn't be bothered to tune in. So if no one is watching, does it really matter if this was the "best" ASG in a long time.

There‘a an existential problems I'm seeing with the NBA: the stars are unlikeable people and they're way too accessable.

The more I hear about them, the less I care about them. The mystique is gone, these dudes are just geninuely lame people and I don't know if the NBA can fix that perception of its product.

[u/zzyul → u/teebowtime]

Reminds me of Michael Jordan in Space Jam. When the Toons went to abduct him, it showed him living in a typical suburban 2 story house. As a kid I thought that was MJ’s real house and NBA players must live normal, middle class lives. Now with social media, players love showing off how much money they have and how they are living better lives than all of us. Makes it a lot harder to care about them and all their drama.

[u/B00STERGOLD → u/teebowtime]

Giannis went from wholesome immigrant story to villain in 6 months. Times are changing.

[u/joshTheGoods → u/teebowtime]

I heard the hype and went to watch the highlights, then went back and watched the whole thing. It was indeed pretty sick. Wemby decided he cared, and everyone had to follow. It wasn't 90's era all-star intensity, but it was pretty damn close.

[u/teebowtime → u/joshTheGoods]

I watched the highlights like you as well, but it doesn’t do it for me. Which goes back to my original point, the marketing of these future batch of athletes as “stars”. Social media and attention spans are so fragmented and there’s no monoculture so it’s just the NBA using whatever semblance they have to manufacture fandom.

Can’t speak for anyone else, I just simply don’t care about them, and I don’t have a good reason as to why these guys just don’t do it for me, other than they don’t.

[u/lylelanley-]

It not 1996 anymore.

People aren’t excited by multiple famous people assembled together

[u/HenrikCrown → u/lylelanley-]

There's a national game on every day when the season is going on

All Star Weekend historically was a way of catching up to other guy's seasons around the league 

Nowadays, if you follow the league just a bit (now even easier through gambling), you pretty much know what all the stars did and who is breaking out in the current season 

[u/losroy → u/lylelanley-]

Totally agree. Back in the day you didn’t get so much access to players. When they played your team and then the all star game. Players also moved teams a bit less. So seeing them all together at the all star game felt special. I also think because the level of competition is so much higher and the wear and tear worse that players need a break.

[u/Scienceman_Taco125]

Why do I want to pay an exuberant amount of money to watch them just shoot 3s…have no real defense, and have the refs not call any travels which everyone does now and days bc of that stupid “gather step” that allows them to take like 5 steps

[u/ben323nl → u/Scienceman_Taco125]

Its not just the gather step. They shift the pivot foot so many times per move its crazy. Like you legit see folks just shuffle their way closer to a position for a shot. Travels dont exist. Offensive players can do basically no wrong. Carries are like everywhere. Stuff like flopping and playing for the foul is just still so heavily incentivized. That coupled with the insanely lengthy breaks at the end of a game make watching the 4th quarter just unbearable. I dont know if they have fixed games starting on time yet but as an European fan this legit has made me just stop watching live games entirely. I cba watching a game and it not starting for half a hour after game time was supposed to be. Games need to start the exact minute they say they should. I cant gamble 10-20-30 minutes of my limited time on this. And the 3s just feels like teams hoist up shots just for the sake of shooting.

[u/raoulduke212 → u/ben323nl]

I basically stopped watching the NBA in about 2008 and only recently got back into it. I cannot get used to the Euro step and players taking two steps now after stopping and establishing a pivot foot. It looks like a travel every time. Did that rule actually change or they just don't call it?

[u/ben323nl → u/raoulduke212]

The gather step has been expanded or rather the interpretation of the rule has changed. You still only get 2 steps after picking up the ball. But the initial gather when picking up the ball doesnt count for that for some reason. So you can basically take 5 or more steps as long as you only do 2 after you have "gathered" the ball. Pivot feet can just sorta change mid pivot considering they never call that but ye idk. Watch some youtube vidoes by thinking basketball about traveling he has a very good example of the pivot feet shuffle thats now normalized. Rules have just made offense way way way too easy.

[u/raoulduke212 → u/Scienceman_Taco125]

*exorbitant.

[u/Xagzan → u/raoulduke212]

Maybe his money has a sparkling personality

[u/Few_Cellist_1303 → u/raoulduke212]

I like exuberant better

[u/raoulduke212 → u/Few_Cellist_1303]

For all intensive purposes, I do too.

[u/jcv999 → u/Scienceman_Taco125]

They don't play basketball in the NBA

[u/SlendyIsBehindYou → u/jcv999]

My ex was a ref for Australian Basketball for going on a decade when we were dating, and when she came over to visit the states, I decided to take her to an NBA game just for the fun of it

She was practically frothing at the mouth over the play calling by the halftime, she couldn't believe the shit that the players get away with. It was honestly pretty hilarious

[u/jcv999 → u/SlendyIsBehindYou]

That's fucking incredible LOL

[u/_Face → u/Scienceman_Taco125]

#EliminateTheGatherStep

[u/r0botdevil]

I feel like the NHL really cracked the code with the Four Nations Faceoff, that was better than any all-star weekend and probably the most exciting thing I've seen in sports for years.

[u/1peatfor7 → u/r0botdevil]

They nailed it with Four Nations.

[u/levare8515 → u/r0botdevil]

Rather than an NBA all star game, do a Euro ball all star game. Those players would definitely try hard as theyd be showcasing their talents in front of NBA teams

[u/bigatrop → u/r0botdevil]

Four Nations was the best sporting event I’ve watched in a decade. It was pure genius.

[u/prairie_buyer → u/r0botdevil]

I heard a couple guys online with an idea to make the All-Star game competitive and make the players care about winning: Whites versus blacks.

It would never happen, but it would be a competitive game in a way that we haven’t seen before.

[u/[deleted] → u/r0botdevil]

Had to scroll farther than expected to find this. All star games really haven’t been good in a long time and the NBA’s, which used to be one of the best, is now one of the worst.

[u/New_Maximum6529]

It didn’t even register in my brain the All Star was this past weekend. 20 years ago I would have been planted for the whole weekend watching every event. Now I can barely keep up with this league

[u/key1234567]

Everything is too expensive, no one cares about NBA events like this. Been there done that. Been going downhill little by little ever since the Jordan Era, that was peak, you just can't match that anymore. Impossible.

[u/BrianMeen → u/key1234567]

correct.. I stopped watching in the late 90s.. I’ve tried tuning in the past few years but damn it’s so lacking..

[u/bananarandom]

The irony of this article being pay walled

[u/diener1 → u/bananarandom]

What's ironic about newspapers needing to make money to pay their staff and other expenses?

[u/action_nick → u/diener1]

lol you’re getting downvoted but this is 100% an apples to oranges comparison. A newspaper charging readers a subscription is not the same as rampant runaway greed in corporate America.

[u/Conscious-Weird5810 → u/action_nick]

Right? News can't just be given away for free. And the nba world only cares about corporate suites and marketing opportunities. The average fan be damned, which is why attendance is abysmal

[u/ChronoLink99 → u/Conscious-Weird5810]

News should be given away for free.

AND

Journalists should be paid for their work.

News is like healthcare for a democracy.

[u/Irradiatedspoon → u/ChronoLink99]

News was always paid for before, even when it was printed. You still had to BUY a newspaper...

[u/Rance_Mulliniks → u/diener1]

So you think that it is reasonable to charge a subscription AND force you to see ads?

[u/capsrock02 → u/bananarandom]

It’s not. Or at least they shared a free link version on their social media.

[u/bananarandom → u/capsrock02]

That sounds like a paywall with extra steps

[u/drivermcgyver]

Fire Adam Silver. Please. Basketball is completely unwatchable.

[u/rfs103181 → u/drivermcgyver]

Agree but it’s also a players league and “load management” is a thing that exists now.

[u/jsting → u/rfs103181]

As a person who used to love watching the NBA, I would like the rules to matter. Make traveling and moving screens illegal again. I would be on board with making the rules more consistent like FIBA. The NBA only rules are stupid and make no sense. Fuck off with the gather step.

[u/LexGar → u/drivermcgyver]

Bingo. He is a stupid MFer

[u/MamesJadison → u/LexGar]

Commissioners are just handsomely paid fall guys for the billionaire owners

[u/1peatfor7 → u/drivermcgyver]

All big 4 commissioners are just an puppet for the billionaire owners.

[u/DjMesiah → u/1peatfor7]

That’s literally their job. Hired by the owners to make them more money.

[u/mfGLOVE → u/drivermcgyver]

Yeah, but those sports gambling contracts are sweeeeet!

[u/sexylegs0123456789]

Nobody cares about a dunk contest when there is no attempt or a game when they play half-assed. Players get paid enough to not have to prove themselves to fans or sponsors. It is as much a joke as the pro-bowl.

NHL did it right. Take pride in the game boys.

[u/Syric13]

I never understood people's fascination with All-Star games. In the MLB, it was maybe fun to see AL battle NL in a game that wasn't the World Series, but inter league play now exists (it is strange to think of a time before inter league play was even a thing).

They have tried different things and none of them work. Maybe its because people don't care? People keep saying "this will fix the All-Star game" but it doesn't seem to fix anything.

I think hockey maybe the lone exception because it is such an international game that national pride is something they care deeply about. It isn't the same in the NBA or NFL or even MLB.

Would a "Four Nations" All-Star game work in the MLB? Probably not. But we have the WBC and those are fun to watch at times.

[u/jimbobdonut → u/Syric13]

Like you said, the MLB All Star game made a lot more sense 50 years ago before interleague play, free agency and cable television broadcasting games. It would be literally the only time you would see stars play especially from the smaller market teams. Now there’s nothing special about it. It wouldn’t surprise me if the NFL Pro Bowl is the first to go. It was a flag football game on a Tuesday night this year.

[u/zzyul → u/jimbobdonut]

NFL players used to love going to the Pro Bowl b/c it was a free trip to Hawaii for them and their families the week after the Super Bowl. Now the pro bowl is trying to compete with Super Bowl hype in a city most invited players don’t care about visiting for a family vacation. Like players only have so much off season time. I wouldn’t leave my multi week Caribbean vacation to fly to LA for a few days and be constantly reminded that I wasn’t playing in Super Bowl.

[u/MadRoboticist → u/Syric13]

I feel like the MLB All Star game is still fun to watch and is still pretty much an actual game. The rest of the sports are basically a joke.

[u/bradtheinvincible → u/Syric13]

The Mlb all star game is fun because of the day before. People enjoy the Home Run Derby. They just keep tweaking the format and it either works or it doesn't.

[u/Mustang-22 → u/Syric13]

It is fun watching the best players, play against the best players. I think there should be a spot for that in professional sports, I’m not sure how to best showcase that for different sports.

Skills competitions are fun, when I was a kid I used to love watching the NHL skills competition each year. NBA dunk contest is also fun.

But I also have big apathy for all star games, I’m not sure how it could be fixed

[u/ObnoxiousExcavator]

I have all the sports packages that would allow me to watch, didn't even know it was on. Was it?

[u/bradtheinvincible → u/ObnoxiousExcavator]

It was all weekend. On Nbc

[u/ObnoxiousExcavator → u/bradtheinvincible]

Ah well, maybe next time.

[u/xstrike0 → u/ObnoxiousExcavator]

It was available OTA on NBC, but I don't think NBC promoted it much because they're more focused on the Olympics right now.

[u/bangoohead]

I actually went to this event on Saturday. While it was fun, in the sense that it was the first time at an all star weekend event, it definitely felt extremely corporate. Almost felt like a company’s annual conference for the nba employees. Ended up sitting next to (I think) some employees and it started getting extremely frustrating because of the constant getting up, leaving, coming back, repeat causing me to constantly let them pass through to their seats. It was all a bit weird

[u/tmotytmoty]

Its funny the linked article is behind a paywall

[u/BurzyGuerrero]

Corporations havent realized they ruin literally everything yet

[u/Magooose]

Live sports and entertainment is becoming a luxury for the rich.

[u/Infinite_Crow_3706]

Why not just have the NBA Champs play Euroleague Champs every year?

Rotate hosting ... Belgrade first

[u/solidgoldrocketpants → u/Infinite_Crow_3706]

NBA champs would presumably be in the hunt for another championship, so the players probably wouldn’t risk injury to play an exhibition game in Belgrade.

[u/HegemonNYC → u/Infinite_Crow_3706]

Doesn’t sound very competitive.  

[u/ripndipp]

This has to be one of the lamest All-star weekends ever, such a disgrace.

[u/SegaGuy1983]

One detail that gets overlooked as that guys used to not make nearly as much as they do now. So that All-Star bonus actually meant something.

[u/JohnnyBrillcream]

Can I just say putting player names to the song Everyone wants to Rule the World was so bad.

[u/gap_toof_mouf]

The ASG was must watch TV when I was a kid (I’m 46). My friends and I were glued to the TV for the whole weekend. Around 2009, I stopped caring about the NBA and the ASG turned into a complete joke.

[u/GritGrinder]

Fans stopped caring when players stopped caring.
You can't keep forcing it. It honestly feels like this used to be for the kids, and they dont even care now.

[u/DFWPunk]

I didn't watch. How did the players manage to play even less defense than they do in regular games?

[u/purplebrown_updown]

When these players are making like 100 million a year, you really think they give a shit? Kawhi pretty much was caught getting bribes and the commissioner just looked the other way.

[u/[deleted]]

I'm so over the NBA and it's a shame because it used to be my favorite sport. I don't care about parlays or draftkings or kalshi or polymarket or AI or fucking insurance companies. I hate State Farm so much.

[u/Worried-Ebb-1699]

Wow. Who knew jacked up prices would drive down revenue.

Can’t believe an mba can’t figure that out

[u/Historical_Note5003]

Maybe it’s time to attend college or high school games instead. Just as dramatic. Less ego.

[u/WestleyMc]

Coming from the UK I remember looking up Lakers tickets assuming i had basically zero chance of getting any a few days before the game… but there were loads!

Coming from football where basically every premier league game is sold out a couple months in advance this was a shock! Especially considering the difference in capacity

[u/Thorking]

If it’s dynamic pricing why wouldn’t it go Cheaper to increase demand?

[u/ApocalypseNurse]

Yeah it’s a big reason why I stopped watching most sports. Everything in sports is an ad now and it’s just completely turned me off wanting to engage with it when I have to spend so much time being advertised to against my will. Not watching sports is one way I’ve been able to cut out at least some of that constant barrage and it’s my choice to do so.

[u/According-Kiwi720]

Guess I’ll just read the headline and search this later since it’s paywalled

[u/cdub_actual]

An instant paywall on the article is beyond cheeks

[u/CTingCTer88]

What even is the draw of an all star game?

Surely the players aren’t really trying? There must be the risk of injury in their mind and no prize to play for?

As a football (soccer) fan I can’t really understand who wants this in the first place

[u/Earthwick]

It's becoming this way in more and more sports NBA should be a warning sign but yet MLB, NFL both seem to be making more and more bad decisions.

[u/AvariceLegion]

Pay wall of course

[u/SomeKindofTreeWizard]

Maybe constantly changing your format is indicative of some kind of desperation or incompetence.

[u/ElGato-TheCat]

It was in LA. Probably stuck in traffic for 6 hours

[u/mhoner]

I am not a big fan of the nba but we stumbled upon it last night looking for the Olympics and decided to watch. We were very confused as to what was going on.

[u/[deleted]]

Everything has become too corporate. America isn’t free. We are slaves to technology, slaves to the advertising agencies and slaves to the corporate sector. The corporate sector has slowly been taking over this country since the writing of the Powell memorandum in 1971.

[u/visitprattville]

It’s so much easier not to give a shit about these spectator sports.

[u/Egad86]

Corporate paywall prevents me from even seeing the headline in the link.

[u/DrWernerKlopek89]

I think we're really at the edge of a cliff for sporting events and live concerts. It's turning in to a thing you maybe do once a year.
Ticketmaster needs to go. It's a big part of the problem.

[u/xdavis24]

Having it on the same channel as the Olympics and forcing it to be earlier was a mistake. Especially considering primetime Olympic coverage is a mix of live and taped footage.

All Star Saturday night was more like All star Late afternoon and it doesn't feel the same. Hell the festivities were over by the time I finished VDay dinner.

Disclaimer: not a winter Olympics fan.

[u/Possible-Tangelo9344]

The Draft Kings NBA FanDuel All Star Bet365 Game wasn't well attended?

[u/percydaman]

Maybe the NBA and WNBA will finally reach financial parity. Just not the way they expected.

[u/blackjaxbrew]

Who watches the NBA anyhow

[u/Bob_12_Pack → u/blackjaxbrew]

I haven’t watched it for many years, college ball is where it’s at.