THE cost of restarting the NBA season in a campus environment in an attempt to ensure safety is over $150 million, ESPN reported on Wednesday.
Commissioner Adam Silver and the league board of governors opted for the “bubble” site of Walt Disney World Resort to provide room and board for the 22 teams within shouting distance of the playoffs. The postseason will also be held in what the NBA hopes is a controlled environment, where players have restrictions to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Among the costs to the NBA are daily tests for COVID-19, treatment and quarantine associated with positive tests, and meals, security, transportation, sanitation of facilities including practice gyms and staging of games at multiple stadium sites (three arenas are planned for use).The NBA has projected a total loss exceeding $1 billion in revenue related to ticket sales by playing games at the isolated, neutral site and without fans present.
“It comes into play that we feel an obligation to our sport and to the industry to find a new normal, NBA commissioner Adam Silver told Time magazine on Tuesday. “It doesn’t come into play in terms of dollars and cents because, frankly, it’s not all that economical for us to play on this campus. It’s enormously expensive.
Coaches will not be excluded from participating in the season’s resumption near Orlando based solely on their age, coaches union president Rick Carlisle said Wednesday.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver expressed concern in early June about the inclusion of older coaches in the league’s “bubble” at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, with health officials stating that people 65 and older are particularly susceptible to severe symptoms if they contract the coronavirus.
However, Carlisle indicated that the league plans to review every coach individually. “Everybody goes through a screening process, but we’ve been assured by the league that no one will be red-flagged from going to Orlando based on age alone,” Carlisle said, according to ESPN. “That was a very positive thing for us to hear, but as I said, everybody in all 22 (participating) markets— all staff, all players, everybody— goes through a significant screening process.
With Additional Reports: malaya.com.ph, Field Level Media
Photo Sources: nba.com, Getty Images–Glenn James, yardbarker.com
