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.
(Field Level Media)
