"We must become more efficient as a business in the current economic climate," president Fred Whitfield said of an organization that has lost millions since former BET founder Bob Johnson brought the NBA back to Charlotte in 2004.
Just like NASCAR, sports leagues all over the world are feeling the pinch from the current financial crisis.
Before this latest round of layoffs that cost about 80 league jobs, the NBA had already closed its Los Angeles office and scaled down its preseason trip to Europe down to four games in four cities, with no local teams invited.
"We made the decision some months ago that the economy was going to be a bit wobbly so we began a belt-tightening," commissioner David Stern said this week in London.
Stern emphasized the NBA is still hitting its business targets.
"My guess is that by the time we tip off in a week or so, we will be down modestly in season tickets. ... We think we'll be up in revenue, but I just can't say for sure whether we'll be up or down in attendance because it's just so touch-and-go, because sports tickets are very much disposable income," he said. "So, we're not going to see a huge impact, but I dare say we will see some impact."
A look at some other sports leagues:
--LPGA Tour: The LPGA doesn't have a network TV contract, and about a third of its tournaments are up for renewal this year. Two tournaments already are gone: the Fields Open in Hawaii and the Ginn Tribute in South Carolina. Safeway, which sponsored events in Portland and Phoenix, now will sponsor only the Portland event.
The LPGA is looking for title sponsors for Phoenix and Tulsa, Okla., where sponsor SemGroup filed for bankruptcy.
Although it appears trouble is looming for the tour, LPGA officials remain hopeful nothing will be interrupted.
"We are reasonably confident in next year's schedule being similar to this year's schedule in number of events and level of prize money," said Chris Higgs, senior vice president of tournament business affairs.
--Major League Baseball: Attendance fell this season after four straight record years, proving commissioner Bud Selig was wrong when he estimated the sport could break 80 million in attendance for the first time. But the economic slowdown is felt beyond the turnstiles: Team coverage in many newspapers has been cut back, leading to a decreased presence in print for teams. And MLB expects a decrease in car ads -- long a major sponsor -- forcing clubs and networks to search for other advertisers.
Sales of licensed goods -- such as jerseys and caps -- is flat when compared with last year. It would be down factoring out the All-Star game at Yankee Stadium, which produced extra revenue.
--NFL: Commissioner Roger Goodell said the NFL is not immune from the crisis, even though sponsorships are currently solid, attendance is still booming and TV ratings have been steady. But Goodell knows that could all change, and the market is having a direct effect on stadium construction in Dallas and New York, as rising bond rates have escalated costs.
"It affects our consumers, our fans, and so we are very sensitive to it," Goodell said. "We are trying to plan appropriately for it. I don't know of any business or any financial institution that's not going through the same types of analysis, the same type of evaluation of what we can do to better prepare ourselves in the current economic climate."
--NHL: Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league is still growing, noting that season ticket sales are up 4 percent from last year and single-game ticket sales are up 13 percent. But he worries that the weakened market could slow the success.
"I have no doubt that, over time, if it's long enough and bad enough, it will have some impact," Bettman said.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly admits the sponsorship market is tougher, but said the league and clubs were still able to close deals this summer.
--PGA Tour. Commissioner Tim Finchem knows he will have a tough sell next year to renew title sponsor contracts that expire in 2010.
"If the instability were to continue for a sustained period of time, we will have real challenges," he said.
The bulk of its event title sponsors are signed at least through 2010, and Wachovia is signed through 2014 to sponsor its hometown tournament. But tickets for 2009 were five days away from being printed when the Charlotte-based bank buckled under the Wall Street meltdown and fell into a bidding war between Citigroup and Wells Fargo.
"Luckily, we signed a contract through 2014," tournament director Kym Hougham said. "Somebody is going to honor it. We know the tournament will happen. We just don't know what the name is going to be."
--ATP: There's been no sign yet of companies not being able to fulfill their contracts with the ATP. Spokesman Kris Dent believes the tour "remains in pretty good commercial shape," based on multimillion-dollar renewal deals with three sponsors, and a new $35 million, five-year deal with British bank Barclays to be the title sponsor of its season-ending tournament.
--Formula One Racing: Drastic cost reductions will be discussed next week in Geneva at a meeting hosted by FIA president Max Mosley with the 10 team chiefs.
On Wednesday, the 2009 French Grand Prix was canceled when the cash-strapped French Motorsport Federation withdraw its backing of the Formula One race. FFSA's board of directors said it didn't want to risk a financial loss by holding the race next year, but will try the resurrect the world's oldest grand prix in 2010.
The Canadian Grand Prix had already been dropped from the 2009 schedule, leaving no races in North America.
Mosley has warned that current costs are "unsustainable," adding that if there are no reductions in place within two years, the series could be in peril.
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Sports Writers Ronald Blum, Mike Cranston, Doug Ferguson, Howard Fendrich, Dave Goldberg, Chris Lehourites, Paul Logothetis and Ira Podell contributed to this report.
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