If NBA season resumes, may not be til June

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 20: A official NBA basketball on the court during an NBA game between the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Clippers on December 20, 2017 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)

ESPN will not air PTI, other daytime shows, for time being

Jon Lewis

Jon Lewis has been covering the sports media industry on a daily basis since 2006 as the founder and main writer of Sports Media Watch. You can contact him here or on the social media websites X (Twitter) or Bluesky.

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Comments 7

EDWIN GAMES says:

6 years ago

Off topic but , what was the rating for Mar 7th game with MLS DC United vs Inter Miami on Univision at 330pm? Also what do you see NHL and MLS doing. I also think its harder for these multi billion dollar big revenue leagues. There is big media money involved because of these huge payrolls. It will be a interesting case study of the financial solvency of the Big 5. NFL the king of course will be unscathed outside of the draft.
- Paulsen says:
  
  6 years ago
  
  Haven’t seen that info. My thought re: NHL is the same as for the NBA. I just think that if you can crown a champion in 2020, even if it takes until the fall or winter, that should be an option. MLS, I think, is in less danger of losing the season because it just started. So MLS Cup is already slated for November, can always shorten season and push it back.
Nate Johnson says:

6 years ago

At this point right now, I am not sure what is right or wrong for the NBA following a decision of their suspension. In my honest opinion I feel as if they should want to resume play at an empty arena or practice venue whatever. Let’s remember that many of these players played AAU basketball where there’s hardly anyone in the gym. I know that may be frustrating for some players, but it would at least take things back to where it begins and that’s playing in front of a small number of spectators or no spectators at all. Watching the St. John’s/Creighton Big East Tournament game before it was cancelled at Halftime gave me hope that playing in a limited crowd wouldn’t be a bad idea if that was the only choice for games to be played in. As long as something is on the line (Championship, Narration, Legacy, etc.) I believe stars wouldn’t mind playing in empty arenas or limited crowd access.

The NBA to me should expect a loss of money though assuming that precautionary advice of many overrides everything else several weeks or a few months from now. However, if the NBA don’t want to lose any money at all then they’ll need to play the waiting game so they can get money through tickets and gate. But at the end of the day, the most consumption comes through media outlets. I’m sure ESPN will want live NBA back on their stations. I’m sure ABC would want to have make profits from ads by showing the Postseason and Finals. I’m not sure how TNT would feel from all of this, but I believe ESPN and ABC would want to make sure their money is at work.

Last point on the NBA, the Olympics sounds like it will go on as planned (GREAT NEWS!!!). I wonder how much impact that will have on when to start the NBA season resume. Many U.S. stars are eager to play in Tokyo as a way to expand their international brand. This could be vital especially after how the China debacle went. Also there are International players who would want to play for their home country in an event that is once every four years. I’m also sure Gregg Popovich would rather coach and prep Team USA during the Summer than the Spurs. NBA is in a really tough position in having to make a decision and it’s best that they don’t screw it up.

The MLB should just wait. Losing games would be tough if it goes that route, but I believe it would be a great evaluation on rather playing less than 162 games would be beneficial. There would be financial setbacks of course, but the MLB should be okay to evaluate a small setback and see if it will give them a major gain. To me I want the 162 games to stay. You can call me a traditionalist because I love baseball as to how it’s been played over 10 years ago, but for some reason I would be opened to the idea of shortening a season even though it would compromise so much stats on players and teams going forward. Also it would be a challenge to have a high number of inter-league play something that has helped ticket sales in the MLB.
Samuel says:

6 years ago

I don’t understand how the NBA can resume in June. Even if they they simply pick up with current seeding for a full two month postseason that extends into August, there will be a lot of rust and it would be bad basketball. Plus, where would these games take place? Playing playoff games in a team’s practice facility is going to give games a high school feel. I think if it gets to this point, the NBA may as well just cancel the season and return with a fresh start in October.

When it comes to MLB, I can’t see a June start with them either. How many games would be played and how far is MLB willing to extend it’s regular season? I saw someone say that they would consider having games in October and November be played at neutral-site warm weather cities or in domes. But having the playoffs and World Series played at a neutral-site would be silly because outside of the Super Bowl, all other sports are used to having the home crowd involved. I think it would be best for all sports to simply shut down until the NFL season in September.
- Paulsen says:
  
  6 years ago
  
  I think it’s a dangerous move to lose a whole season. You break the continuity and it’s not easy to get that back. MLB never recovered fully from losing the 1994 WS and NHL from losing 2005 SCF. Those were obviously far different circumstances, but I think you risk not getting all of your audience back if you lose the whole year.
  - Sean O'Leary says:
    
    6 years ago
    
    I find it hard to believe people would turn off the NBA because of a worldwide pandemic.
    - Paulsen says:
      
      6 years ago
      
      I find it harder to believe — far harder — that a league that has had its ratings decline in three of four years will come out of losing an entire playoffs and finals unscathed.