In a conference call on Friday, the National Basketball Players Association’s leadership stated their belief no fans will be allowed to attend games for the entire 2020-21 NBA season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there has been a steady rate of reported COVID-19 cases each day in the United States. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently stated that there should be a safe and effective vaccine by the end of the year. However, without a vaccine, COVID-19 cases may never spike down. The 2020-21 NBA season is expected to start sometime in December, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.
Nevertheless, if fans won’t be able to attend games for the duration of the 2020-21 season, the NBA will take a big hit financially. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stated that 40 percent of the NBA’s revenue derives from fans in attendance. Not only will the NBA take a big hit, but ticket sales companies like StubHub and Ticketmaster will also lose money.
With that being said, the 2020-21 season could likely be held at a bubble site, just like how the NBA is planning on resuming the 2019-20 season at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The Orlando bubble will certainly give everyone an idea of how the 2020-21 season will be played out.
As for NBA fans, they’ll most likely have to wait until the 2021-2022 season to see their favorite teams in person again.
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