NBA - What's all the fight about?

In a matter of a few months, two of America's favorite sports have gone through major labor issues.  First, it was the NFL and of course, that one was remedied relatively quickly and we didn't lose any of the season.  Second, the NBA has already canceled two weeks of basketball and, I hate to sound like Debbie Downer, but I personally don't believe there will be a season this year.  The reason:  The players and owners are TOO far apart. 

I usually write about economic/real estate/personal finance, so some may wonder why I am writing about this...Well, first and simply, I like sports.  Secondly, these are issues having to do with making good business decisions and, in my opinion, the owners need to hold out because this is a model that needs to change in order for these businesses to sustain any sort of promising future. It would be similar to paying your bills and spending more than you have by paying with credit cards because you believe your income will increase at a much faster pace than your expenses. Unfortunately, do you know what can happen? The Great Recession: You are out of a job but with lots of credit card debt. 

In the late 90s, the NBA lost almost half a season and the deal that finally ended up getting signed came before a massive explosion in NBA salaries.  I don't think any of the owners thought the economics of the NBA would have changed so much in a little over one decade.  In addition, back in the late 90s, you had many owners who were still some of the original owners of NBA franchises, but since then, many teams have changed hands at values in the hundreds of millions of dollars, as opposed to the $10MM or $15MM they were purchased for in the early 80s.  Now it is of utter importance that the owners make sure this new deal makes economic sense.

Revenues haven't increased at nearly the rate for the owners as the expense of paying players.  As of late, salaries have been increasing at 6-7% per year while revenues have been increasing at 3% per year or so.  Yes, last year was a good year in the NBA but you need many good/great years to make up a decade of those differences. 

It really is important for me as a fan that these two sides find middle ground.  But more importantly, as fans, we need to have the owners have good long term sustainable expenses so they can keep providing us with this entertainment. The players have some good points too, but we need to remember that without billionaires paying for losses each year, there wouldn't be large salaries.  It's just a matter of time.

Please let me know your thoughts...I know that I am one of the few siding with the owners...big surprise.