Obscured in the big-money negotiations is the impact on the behind-the-scenes workers who keep the NBA humming and the 800-plus arena employees, many of them part-time, who service, entertain and ply fans on game nights.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- If not for the NBA lockout, an Air Canada charter flight carrying the Toronto Raptors would have landed at Hopkins International Airport on Thursday in advance of the Cavaliers' home opener Friday at The Q.
Two buses supplied by a Cleveland company would have been waiting to ferry the 35-member traveling party downtown. The bus line would earn $2,000 over two days for squiring the Raptors around Cleveland and back to the airport after the game.
The club's first stop would have been a luxury hotel, most likely the Ritz Carlton, an account worth about $7,000, assuming everyone required their own room. Before the night ended, 15 players armed with $150 per diem would have scattered to high-end restaurants such as Morton's and XO Steakhouse, while Toronto-based reporters chose more modest eateries and saved their most creative writing for their company expense reports.
Unfortunately for Cleveland businesses and individuals relying on the NBA for a living, they will not make a dime off the league Friday. The Q will be dark as the labor impasse reaches Day 126 with regular-season games canceled through November.
As NBA owners and locked-out players return to the bargaining table Saturday, there's a heightened urgency born from mounting financial losses. A sold-out opener at The Q generates more than $1 million in revenue. The club's highest-paid player, Antawn Jamison, is losing $183,862 per game.
Obscured in the big-money negotiations is the impact on the behind-the-scenes workers who keep the NBA humming and the 800-plus arena employees, many of them part-time, who service, entertain and ply fans on game nights. The Plain Dealer consulted with industry insiders to determine the approximate losses absorbed by those who come in contact with players and league officials on a typical game day.
What follows is merely a sampling:
If not for the NBA lockout, the hotel wait staff would receive tips after breakfast on Friday before Raptors' players and coaches boarded buses to The Q for morning shoot-around.
The Cavs and Raptors would arrive at the arena where 14 ball boys had gear, towels and drinks ready for the players. The attendants make roughly $70 per game and can pocket more than $20 apiece in tips.
Following team practices, television and radio production crews would wait to capture images and sound bites for their pre-game shows. A Fox Sports Ohio producer ($1,200) might require an interview with Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving, the top pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
Road teams supply their on-air talent, but hire Cleveland-based crews for their telecasts. There's little question cameramen ($500) would congregate around Cavs rookie Tristan Thompson, a Brampton, Ontario native.
On the bus ride to the hotel, the Raptors would pass lots owned by Arena Stadium Parking, which could net $17,000 by filling 850 spaces at $20 per opening-night spot.
After lunch and a pre-game nap, the Raptors would check out of the hotel, tipping bellhops on the way to the arena. Players from both teams would return around 5 p.m., walking past security guards who receive about $60 per game. These folks lack a voice at the bargaining table, yet they would remind owners and players that arena workers not only lose money from cancelled games, but events that cannot be scheduled because the league wants venues holding open dates for the possible resumption of play.
It's a reality sometimes lost as the two sides haggle over how to divide $4 billion in basketball-related revenue.
If not for the NBA lockout, The Q's public address announcer would introduce the entire Cavaliers opening-night roster. According to a projected lineup, the average Cav is losing $51,427 per game – or roughly $10,000 more than Cuyahoga County's median household income in 2010.
As the game began, the arena disc jockey ($100) would select tunes to motivate the crowd. Meanwhile, beer vendors, suite attendants, bartenders and concessions staff -- all earning about $80 before tips -- would wait on patrons during timeouts.
Players and coaches are often oblivious to the activity around them. They would not notice Moondog's assistant ($75) scurrying about the arena floor in preparation for the mascot's next stunt, but might be distracted long enough to catch a glimpse of a Cavaliers' dance team routine.
The dancers, who deal with many of the same aches and strains as players, draw about $75 per game.
When the final horn sounded, fans would spill into downtown streets en route to bars and restaurants while players retired to the locker rooms. Cavaliers coach Byron Scott would remind his group about Saturday's charter to Los Angeles, a flight that costs roughly $25,000 per leg and helps pay the salaries of ground crews at Hopkins.
If not for the NBA lockout, the Raptors would have taken two buses to the airport late Friday night. And in the spring, the visiting team would have been required to report income from the Nov. 4 game that returned to Cleveland in the form of tax dollars.
Plain Dealer reporter Mary Schmitt Boyer contributed to this report.
