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Of NBC Sports Sees By George Stahl NEW YORK (AQB)--NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol said he sees "minimal damage" to the players from the NBA lockout, a 50/50 chance that Michael Jordan will return and about 27 or 28 regular-season games on NBC this season in a wide-ranging interview with New York sports radio personalities Mike Francesa and Chris "Mad Dog" Russo. The interview, conducted Thursday afternoon on the "Mike and the Mad Dog Show," also touched on the NFL, baseball and college football. Ebersol, of course, is happy the lockout is over but realizes that this is just the beginning for the network and the league. "We've got a lot work to do ... in rebuilding fan interest, particularly among the casual fan. "I believe the real basketball fan will be back relatively quickly, once he gets caught up in the games," Ebersol said. "But the casual fan, who's always come to the NBA in huge numbers when the playoffs begin, I think we've got three months of hard work to show them we want to right a wrong. We hurt them; we didn't give them their games." Ebersol said he thinks the players are willing to help improve the league's image. "[The players] really get how important it is that the dynamic between they and the fan has to really change," Ebersol said, adding that the NBA should follow the WNBA model of fan appreciation. "I think that if the players really are on this course - and I have no reason to doubt it after listening to [union leader] Billy [Hunter] and so forth - that they really recognize that they have to go the extra mile with the fans, then there will be minimal damage." (Click here to read more about the settlement) New NBC schedule There already is minimal damage to NBC's NBA schedule, which will probably contain about 27 or 28 regular season games this year. The network originally had planned to televise 31 games this season, the chairman said, but will have lost eight games, including a doubleheader on Christmas, by the time the season actually begins. Ebersol said the exact number of games it will televise probably will be determined Friday in a meeting with the NBA. Ebersol said the NBA on NBC will start with a doubleheader Feb. 7, and the regular season will continue into the middle of the second week of May. After which, there will be the normal playoff rounds with game seven of the Finals scheduled for Tuesday, June 29. That date is important because the NBA Draft is scheduled for June 30 in Washington and because the NBA and NBC doesn't want to end too close to the July 4th holidays. Will Michael return? Whether or not the Bulls are in the Finals depends on if Jordan returns. "My sense is that Michael will make us his mind rather quickly in the next week or so. But I certainly don't think it's any better than 50-50 that he's going to play." "At this stage of his life there are other things, including a lot of golf, his kids and just some personal freedom," Ebersol said. "He may just simply be tired of it all, and so I don't know whether the short season is enough to make him do it. But I think we'll find out quick enough." Obviously, the Bulls are less of attraction without Jordan and possibly Scottie Pippen, also a free agent. Ebersol said he and the NBA will probably prepare the schedule with some extra games on those days with Bulls telecasts, in case NBC wants to regionalize coverage. "I don't think there is any question that it would be helpful to have Michael back; but on the other hand, we all have to be adults. Good things have to end sometimes," Ebersol said, reminding listeners about the doomsday reports on the state of the NBA after Magic Johnson and Larry Bird retired. Reaching for a star The NBC and Turner Sports hope that another star is prepared to take the torch from Jordan because the two media giants are paying nearly $500 million in combined rights fees in this the first year of a four-year $2.6 million deal with the NBA. NBC will get a refund plus interest in the last year of the contract for the money it already has paid this season, while Turner probably will get additionally games over the course of the contract. Ebersol said he doesn't think there will be any lasting fallout between the network and the players, who had threatened early in the lockout to be uncooperative with NBC because they felt the peacock was supporting the league with its payments. Ebersol said it was much ado about nothing because it is standard practice that the networks continue to pay the sports league during a strike or lockout. "That's normal fare. There is nothing unusual about that," Ebersol explained. "And if we had declined to sign that, I'm certain some of our competitors would have." No role in lockout Despite their investment in the NBA, Ebersol said NBC and Turner Sports did not play a role in the lockout. "We didn't have much of an influence at all because both of us are longtime partners of the league," Ebersol said, adding that "there is no one in sports that I trust more than [NBA commissioner] David [Stern]." "For us to get in the middle of it, I thought, would be a big mistake." Ebersol, though, thinks the deal is good, especially for two reasons. "The two things were the home team has the advantage in holding onto its players by being able to have an extra year and pay more money. I think [that] is really key in fighting something that's happened in other sports, where it gets down to just a few teams. "The other thing, which people are not talking enough about in my opinion, is the opt-out rule changing so that a guy cannot get a contract that lets him out after three years to go out and hit the marketplace again. Now, he's got to wait at least five years, and the majority of the players in the league are only going to have six-year contracts anyway. So I think you're going to have more stability." On the NFL Ebersol said that while some people at NBC miss football, he has spent more time with his three boys, which he has enjoyed. He also reminded listeners of his prediction that the networks would lose money on the football deal, which it appears they will. As for the new league with Turner, Ebersol said they "absolutely" were still working on it. "All I can tell you is there are a lot of people who have worked a lot weeks for a long time. One day not too far from now, we may surprise you." On baseball "It's really going to be key to see what happens in the absence of somebody hitting 66 or 70 home runs," Ebersol said, adding that he is hoping the fans will stay because NBC has the World Series next year. On college football Ebersol said the college football postseason works best one of two ways: First, the old way, in which the bowls are arranged so that two or three teams can claim the No. 1 stake, stoking a debate. Second, a 16-team playoff with all the games in December. Either way, Ebersol said, this Bowl Championship Series doesn't seem to be catching on with the viewers. "You got to wonder whether or not, at the prices they [ABC] paid, if they are going to feel that comfortable going forward." On college basketball Ebersol said he hopes the lockout has increased interest in college basketball. "I really hope so, because I think the success of the college game is key to the success of the pro game," he said, adding that the NBA wants college players to stay all four years so that the players' game and recognition factor improves. On the Olympics scandal in Salt Lake City "I think what you'll see in the week ahead is that the IOC [International Olympic Committee], before the end of the month, will terminate at least three to five of their members, and that's only happened once before." Back
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