The NBA this week will have meetings with its TV partners to decide on the start date for the next season, with the consensus leaning towards "sooner rather than later" in order to keep the '21-22 season on track, according to sources cited by The Ringer's Bill Simmons. The thinking is, this "next season is screwed now." Fans "aren’t going to be back till god only knows." Simmons: "They have to preserve the season after the move, which I think they’re starting to talk themselves into and I know they have talks about it this week with the networks, you bite the bullet. You start it sooner than later. You go like 70 games, get rid of the All-Star Break. … You try to get it done by mid-July. … They need to preserve the next season." Simmons noted the long-rumored Christmas Day season start date likely lost traction amid the 37% viewership drop for the postseason. The NBA learned that "nobody watches television in August, regardless of whether there’s a pandemic or not." The ratings "just aren't going to be as good." September was "just a catastrophe going against football and then the election." Simmons: "You know what really worked? Having the Finals in June, the offseason in July. You own those two months. They want to get back to that, or some version of that" ("The Bill Simmons Podcast," The Ringer, 10/19).
