A normal day’s take at Bayside’s Los Ranchos steakhouse is roughly $7,000. On Miami Heat game nights, the restaurant usually clears a hefty $12,000.
At the Four Seasons on Miami’s Brickell Avenue, visiting NBA teams often book dozens of rooms at the $400-a-night hotel — with basketball-related revenues topping a half-million dollars per year.
And at Tickets of America, located across the street from the AmericanAirlines Arena, Heat basketball is its lifeblood. Owner Michael Lipman deals heavily in the floor seat market, with playoff passes reaching the tens of thousands of dollars.
But these are anxious times for all three businesses, as the prolonged NBA labor dispute this week reaches a critical stage. Due to the three-month-long lockout, the entire preseason has been scrapped. And if the owners and players’ union do not carve out an agreement Monday — a dubious prospect, at best — the first two weeks of the regular season are likely lost. The first home game is scheduled for Nov. 3.
That means no LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
No lines out the door at Los Ranchos, no lengthy room service bills at the Four Seasons, and quiet telephone lines at Lipman’s ticket shop.
— Reported by Adam H. Beasley of the Miami Herald
