Before the 2013 NBA playoffs, many people speculated that the Miami Heat would go 16-0 (e.g. sweep every series) en route to their 2nd straight title. As I watched the Miami Heat trounce the Indiana Pacers in game 7 of the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals, it seemed apparent that they definitely had the capability to do so. I then thought of what is most certainly a ridiculous but nevertheless interesting idea. What if the Heat players were instructed to lose in order to have more home games, e.g. increase revenue. (This is not my question, so please don't answer that!)
I agree, there's no way a group of professional athletes would even risk such a thing, but it got me wondering, how much revenue does a team make for a playoff game? I know it's driven largely by ticket cost and arena size, but is there any per-team data available?
(FWIW: This article paints Heat owner Micky Arison in a pretty selfish light, so perhaps my conspiracy theory isn't far off ;) )