Season ticket holders to get refund

[Bruce Allen <ballen007@yahoo.com>]

Looks like the NBA is buckling down for the long haul with an
annoucment like this, the 2nd week in August. 

                

 

                 NEW YORK -- NBA season ticket holders will get a
refund plus interest if the current lockout extends into the 1998-99
season, the league announced Monday.

The season ticket holders will receive case refunds plus interest for
any games canceled due to the lockout. "Regrettably, after last week's
negotiating session, there seems to be a greater likelihood that the
season may not start on time," NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik
said. "Season ticket holders make substantial financial commitments to
our
eams and we think they should be treated fairly in the unfortunate
event that games are missed. A refund policy that includes interest is
the right thing to do in this circumstance."

Interest for refund payments will be calculated at a rate of 6 percent
from the time full payment for season tickets was due, or, if later,
the actual date of final
payment. Refunds will be paid automatically to season ticket holders
at the end of each month.

Anyone holding individual game tickets will be entitled to a cash
refund of the face value of the tickets or a rain check to be used at
a later date. Because of the wide variety of contracts and packages
for luxury suites, club seats and other premium seating arrangements,
refund policies for those situations will be set on a team-by-team
basis.

The upcoming season is the first in a four-year, $2.64 billion
television package the NBA signed with NBC and TNT. The deal calls for
teams to receive their annual
payment of $23 million, whether or not games are played. 

The 1998-99 season is scheduled to start Nov. 3 with 10 games.
Although that is more than two months away, Thursday's session
concluded with the sides pointing
fingers at each other. The NBA called the tone of the union's
counterproposal "insulting" and walked out of the meeting, which
players called "a slap in the face."

NBA owners voted 27-2 in March to reopen the agreement and locked out
players on July 1. The NBA Players Association filed a grievance,
requesting guaranteed
contracts of players be paid during the lockout. 

Causing the rift is the Larry Bird exception, which allows teams to
exceed the salary cap to re-sign their own free agents. The NBA would
like to phase out the
exception, which would create a "hard" salary cap. The players want to
keep the exception. 

There was a lockout prior to the 1995-96 season that postponed summer
leagues and delayed free-agent signings, but no games were missed.
There was another
lockout lasting just minutes in the summer of 1996. 


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