SBJ Unpacks: Coronavirus -- NBA Sets Its Sights On Late July

The end of this week has been shrouded in disheartening current events. Let’s all make sure we try to recharge mentally and spiritually these next couple days.

At least the NBA has provided some positive sports news as we head into the weekend. At deadline, a breaking news report says the league has identified July 31 as its target return date, a day we can all circle on our calendars.  

Stay safe friends.

--- Bret McCormick 

NBA'S TARGET DATE NOT FINAL 

• Despite the report mentioned above, a source told SBJ's John Lombardo that no final decisions have been made on the NBA's return. Discussions at the NBA Board of Governors Friday meeting included a restart format that would feature 16-24 teams. The clubs would most likely be seeded in current Eastern and Western conferences at Disney World in Orlando.
  
  
• Other format talks focused on 16 teams seeded with a play-in format that could include the next four to eight teams. The source added that there are still a lot of questions of what the specific protocols will be.
  
  
• ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, appearing on "The Jump" late Friday afternoon, said Commissioner Adam Silver ultimately is "going to largely make the decision" to come back. Wojnarowski: "He's not going to get consensus here, and he knows that. ... What he's going to try to do, is take as many elements that might impact any number of groups, and incorporate them into a plan. Everyone's not going to get what they want. Everyone's going to feel like they were a little short-changed. But that's what compromise is."

TIME OF THE ESSENCE IN MLB NEGOTIATIONS

• The prevailing wisdom, despite all the acrimony, is that MLB and the union will strike a return-to-play deal at the 11th hour when the two dueling parties collide with a hard and fast deadline, writes SBJ's Eric Prisbell. But keep this in mind: The deadline is soft.
  
  
• If you reverse engineer the process of starting the season around July 4, which has been the target date, the week of June 10 would mark the start of a three-week spring training 2.0. Players would also need at least a few days -- perhaps more for players living outside the country -- to travel to their respective markets or spring training facilities in Arizona and Florida. Then they would undergo diagnostic testing -- with results processed through MLB's Utah-based lab and available within 24 hours -- before spring training starts. In order to accomplish all that in June, time is of the essence. 
  
  
• The primary complication in pushing the start date beyond July 4 would be how then to fit in the proposed 82 games, or more if the two sides agree on a 100-plus game regular season. That would require a creative scheduling model incorporating additional double-headers unless MLB wants to extend the regular season through October. And at least at this point, MLB clearly does not want to do that because it feels that staging a lucrative, expanded postseason in November comes with a heightened risk of a potential second wave of the virus.
  
  
• MLB could earn as much as $1 billion from the expanded postseason, a prospect that is key to the economic feasibility of playing a shortened season in the first place. So while the deadline for a deal may be soft, a start date beyond July 4 could hamper the chances of playing 82 or more regular season games. 

NASCAR TEAMS BEGIN TO REAP RETURN BENEFITS

• NASCAR has transferred purse money into teams' bank accounts from the initial Darlington races, sources tell SBJ's Adam Stern, another sign that the sport's economy is working its way back after the coronavirus shutdown.
  
  
• The stock car series became one of the first sports in the U.S. to return following the pandemic in mid-May and has since pulled off its initial plan to run four Cup Series races, plus a handful of lower series events, over two weeks. It now heads to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend.
  
  
• While there were a handful of reasons NASCAR wanted to return as quickly -- and as safely as possible -- there may have been no greater reason than making sure teams could survive. Out of all the sport’s key stakeholders, teams likely had the greatest need to return as quickly as NASCAR did, while the sanctioning body, venues and media partners are better built to withstand such a shutdown.
  
  
• Teams derive around 75% of their annual income from sponsorship, and sponsors for many teams started withholding checks during the shutdown. Most of the rest of the 25% comes from revenues related to on-track action like race purse, and those dollars also stopped during the pandemic.
  
  
• Last Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway represents one of the biggest race purses of the season, so the money from that event will be particularly welcome once it hits teams’ bank accounts. While NASCAR’s biggest teams would have been able to withstand a slightly more prolonged shutdown, the sport’s mid to smaller teams were in a much more perilous position in terms of having zero cash flow, so the re-opening of the sport may have come just in the nick of time for some of those outfits.
  
   

USA CYCLING FULFILLS SPONSOR OBLIGATIONS WITH VIRTUAL RACES

• USA Cycling is leveraging virtual race platforms to remain engaged with its members and fulfill sponsor obligations, reports SBJ’s Chris Smith. 
  
  
• The main avenue of participation has been through virtual race and training platform Zwift, which had been in conversations with USA Cycling before public health concerns shut down public gatherings like race events. USA Cycling Chief Commercial Officer Bouker Pool: “When COVID hit, we really ramped up the opportunity to focus on the virtual world and give our members, our athletes and our event directors a platform or place to engage and continue to compete.”
  
  
• The result was the USA Cycling Virtual Race League, with races taking place every Wednesday from late April through the end of June. The event is open to all but has also involved professional cyclists, and Pool says there’s been an increase in membership sales tied to virtual racing and spikes in race licenses sold on days when the series is promoted. 
  
  
• The virtual races have also provided USA Cycling an opportunity to fulfill sponsor obligations at a time when the real-world race calendar is wiped clean, as major sponsors like Levi’s and Champion have been worked into the digital offerings. “We’ve integrated them into the title of the event, and the promotion and the content,” said Pool. Sponsors are also involved in event prizing; Levi’s and Champion have contributed gift certificates, while endemic sponsors like Shimano and KT Tape have donated equipment. 

STATE OF THINGS: NHL, NWSL MAKE MOVES

• Significant progress was made this week in North America’s return to sports, particularly in the team sports realm, which so far has been the most difficult to navigate during the pandemic, writes SBJ's Bret McCormick.
  
  
• The NHL became North America’s first major sports league to announce a plan to return to action, though specific dates were largely absent, while the NWSL unveiled a plan to play a tournament at a single location in Utah beginning June 27. That date would currently make the women’s soccer league the first team sports organization to return to play on this continent.
  
  
• Check out SBJ's website for a rundown of major sports leagues/organizations and where they currently stand with regard to the resumption of play.

WORKING FROM HOME WITH NHL PANTHERS PRESIDENT MATT CALDWELL

• NHL Panthers President & CEO Matt Caldwell is eager to get back in the office in June after having spent the better part of the last three months working from his home in Ft. Lauderdale. With the NHL on the brink of returning to the ice, the Panthers on Monday will begin “Phase 0,” as the organization prepares for a limited return on June 15. 
  
  
• The plan is to have 50% of the staff work in the office on alternating days and potentially have one full work-from-home day a week. “We’re probably going to try that for a few weeks and see how it goes,” Caldwell said. 
  
  
• Caldwell, a 2018 SBJ "Forty Under 40" honoree, is excited about the NHL’s plans for a 24-team tournament to finish off this season, and right now the primary goal is getting players ready and making sure the Panthers are prepared for the unique conditions. “Once training camp starts, we (will) have a lot more personnel in there,” he said. “So, we’re going to be very diligent with testing. We had to create a budget -- this is all stuff that we weren’t planning to do (before the pandemic).” Caldwell is also excited about the format: “Nothing’s going to be perfect. It’s hard to appease everybody. But you can tell a lot of thought went into it. It was great collaboration between the league and the players.”
  
  
• One takeaway from working from home for Caldwell has been about becoming more efficient. “Most businesses probably meet too much,” he said. "It’s really forced us to be like, ‘okay, what’s most important to get on a Zoom and get to the bottom line?’” One quarantine routine Caldwell will try to keep with him is morning walks. “I was very diligent on trying to keep a workout early in the morning and then when I get back, take a walk with my wife and daughter before the sun really starts beating down on us here in South Florida,” he said.

• Want to share what your work-from-home setup is like? Reach out to SBJ's David Rumsey.        

OUTSIDE CONTRIBUTORS: ESPORTS' PATH FORWARD 

• Tonight's op-ed contribution is from Baltimore-based ad/marketing firm imre executives Jurgen Castro and Stefen Lovelace, who write under the header, "Esports Is The New Normal, And Opportunities Abound." 
  
  
• "Every brand is watching audiences once averse to the concept of esports flock to them as they seek distraction, giving it a shot and some even finding themselves enjoying virtual games. It’s not hard to imagine a future where people stay hooked on esports to get their offseason fix and continue to watch their favorite athletes perform in a different kind of arena."
  
  
• To read their contribution, click here.

CHECK OUT THE PRINT ISSUE OF SBJ THIS WEEK

• Don’t miss this week’s issue of SBJ. Meanwhile, if you’d like to receive the print issue at your home office, update your delivery address at any time within your account settings here. If you have any questions about how and where to receive your print copy of SBJ, please email help@sportsbusinessdaily.com.

SPEED READS 

• If and when the NHL resumes play later this summer, it could have an entirely new look and feel on television, writes SBJ’s Mark J. Burns. NHL Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer appeared on a podcast episode of NHL Studios' "The Rink" earlier this week, saying that there will be a focus on audio, experimental cameras and closer shots of the ice. Mayer: “You want to hear the sounds of the NHL. You want to hear the players. You want to mic them up where we can. …  I think camera-wise, everything just coming down lower, showing the speed of the game.”
  
  
• With California "poised to authorize the resumption of major sporting events, the teams and venues within Los Angeles County banded together Friday to tell county supervisors precisely how those events could be held safely," per the L.A. Times' Bill Shaikin.
  
  
• The MLB Draft is "getting NFL Draft-style TV coverage this year," with ESPN "getting in on the action" to broadcast the event for the first time since 2008, writes SBJ's Austin Karp. MLB Network, "which has had the event in recent years, will still have its own separate production" 
  
  
• Monster Energy Supercross is among the circuits returning to action this weekend. The series will resume on Sunday at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. It’s the first of seven made-for-TV Supercross races on NBC or NBCSN. No fans will be in attendance, but fans are being given the option to buy a custom poster. Those posters will be positioned in seats at the venue.

• Fox Sports Regional Networks President Jeff Krolik, who ran the Fox-branded RSNs for the past 15 years, will leave his position on Aug. 30 -- around one year after Sinclair assumed control of the channels. Despite the challenges facing the RSN business -- from cord cutting to the lack of live sports during the pandemic -- Krolik told SBJ's John Ourand that he is leaving the business in good shape. “Live local sports is a great business,” he said. “It’s a terrific segment of the media business to be in. ... When baseball returns, that’s going to be a national story. No disrespect, but the return of ‘Property Brothers’ isn’t.”
  
  
• Golf outlet The Fried Egg reports the PGA Tour will replace the July 9-12 John Deere Classic, which was canceled yesterday, "with a second consecutive tournament at Muirfield Village." The Memorial "will be played as an expanded invitational and the following week will be a traditional full field event."
  
  

NEWS YOU NEED FROM SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY

• During this crisis impacting the sports business, we want everyone to be up-to-date on the latest news and information. SBD's "Coronavirus & Sports" section is free, outside the paywall, for the foreseeable future. Below are today's headlines:
  
  
  • Boston Mayor Expects Return To Normalcy For '21 Marathon
  • NFL Keeps Momentum, With Some Coaches Likely Back Next Week
  • Gary Bettman: Money Not Driving NHL's Return-To-Play Plan
  • No MLBPA Response Thursday, But Union Steadfast On Player Pay
  • Many MLB Clubs Extend Stipends To Minor Leaguers, Some Make Cuts
  • WNBA Starting To Prepare Restart Plan With Fanless Games
  • Big 12 To Slash Operating Budget By 10% Next Fiscal Year
  • TMS Hosting IndyCar Without Fans Despite New Rules In Texas
  • Annika Sorenstam To Award $50,000 In Grants To Symetra Tour Players

SBJ UNPACKS -- WEATHERING COVID-19

• Check out the most recent editions of our "SBJ Unpacks" podcasts around COVID-19:
  
  
  • John Ourand and Bill King discuss how networks are planning to broadcast games without fans in the stands.
  • Bill King and Mark J Burns dive into the NHL's plan to return to the ice.
  • Grand Slam Tennis Tours' Kyle Ross on overseeing the launch of a 120-match exhibition series spread across the U.S.
  • Bill King is joined by Greg Levy and Peter Carfagna of the University of Miami to discuss force majeure in the time of COVID-19.
  • The Aspen Institue's Tom Farrey examines what a safe return to sports will look like for kids and whether now is the right time.

NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR SBJ GAME CHANGERS!

Online nominations for Game Changers are now open. We’ll be accepting nominations through midnight June 21. The Game Changers event will be Oct. 27-28, and a special section will run in SBJ in the Oct. 19 issue.

Something related to coronavirus and sports business catch your eye? Tell us about it. Reach out to Austin Karp (akarp@sportsbusinessjournal.com) and we'll share the best of it.