Agency Sees Fan Acceptance of NBA’s Delayed Season

Foote, Cone & Belding’s San Francisco-based sports management group is predicting that fans will quickly embrace the National Basketball Assn.’s abbreviated season, which is heading into its second weekend after a bitter dispute between players and owners.

Foote, Cone & Belding Vice President Keith Bruce maintains that basketball won’t face the same obstacles that Major League Baseball encountered after its strike-shortened 1994 season.

Bruce bases his optimistic outlook on the fact that the NBA’s season will include a post-season championship tournament--unlike baseball, which canceled its playoffs and the World Series. And, unlike baseball, which already was facing slowing attendance, the NBA has been on a roll.

And, Bruce said, “fans have become somewhat desensitized to professional sports labor strife.”