The NBA "lockout" is having an impact on so many more people than just the players and the owners. There are thousands and thousands of concession workers, parking attendants, ushers, cleaners etc. that are now out of work. Way to go NBA. Nothing like playing right into our country's unemployment issues!
The canceled start of the league this year is also a problem for legal (yeah, and illegal) casino sports books. Betting on NBA games and especially futures (where you pick the season's winners early on) is a lot of fun. It's anything but easy, but it's fun.
Sports books make their money by correctly predicting how the customers will wager their money - not by knowing who will win. If a lackluster team with very few fans is playing a great team with a lot of fans, the brain trust at the sports book needs to figure a way to get more money on the "boring" team by posting a line that makes more people bet on them. Not to win the game, but to actually beat the point spread.
With that in mind, sports books only hold a few percentage points in winnings from all the wagers they accept. Any significant drop in bets can make times very tough for the bookies. Good luck to them as baseball ends and the NBA languishes.
