During the one-of-a-kind season, the NBA was still able to generate a hefty amount of money from 2019 to 2020.
Sports reporter Shams Charania learned from sources that the NBA informed all the teams that the league’s basketball-related income during the 2019-2020 season reached a total of $6.858 billion.
Another report from DaveManuel.com mentioned that the basketball-related income (BRI) embodies the accumulated operating revenues earned by all NBA teams, the entire league, and all the other venues where the league or any league-related item has a minimum of 50% stake. It includes all the ticket sales from the regular season and playoff games and exhibition games, concession sales, and merchandise sales, among others.
In October, ESPN also reported that the NBA’s revenue fell considerably by as much as 10% or $8.3 billion for the current season. This incident did not come as a surprise since the season had to be halted for almost five months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
NBA announced the suspension of the 2019-2020 season on March 11 as part of the league’s measure to prevent the spread of the virus. The league only resumed the games in late July by building a bubble city in Orlando, Florida, with 22 teams allowed to return. However, the league did not allow the fans to attend the games. Instead, they can only plug into the games virtually.
The postseason started on August 17, while the NBA Finals, where Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers vied for the championship, started on September 30. The championship series ended on October 11, when the Lakers earned their 17th championship title in Game 6.
The 2020 NBA Draft is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, November 18. Meanwhile, the training camp is scheduled to start on December 1. But unlike the previous seasons, the league decided to cut down the number of regular season games to 72 instead of the traditional 82 games. They are also planning to inaugurate the regular season on December 22, then schedule the NBA Finals sometime in June.
Experts projected that the NBA teams could lose $405 million during the regular season’s reduced span. But it is expected by all the major sports industries that both the 2019-2020 and the upcoming 2020-2021 seasons will be problematic years for the leagues in terms of finances.
To comply with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations to curb the spread of the virus, the NBA plans to allow a limited number of fans to attend during the beginning of the 2020-2021 season. According to reports, the league is looking at approximately 25% to 50% capacity for each team’s arena suites.
They would also implement all the necessary social distancing and health protocols required by the states to protect all the players, team staff, and the audience. But the final logistics of the upcoming season has yet to be revealed. It is also unclear if there will be any preseason games to take place before the start of the regular season.
