SBJ Unpacks: Silver Says Next NBA Season Likely To Tip In 2021

Tonight in SBJ Unpacks: Adam Silver says the next NBA season may not tip until 2021.

Also:

• Takeaways from the AXS Sports Facilities & Franchises and Ticketing Symposium
• Austin FC president on navigating pandemic
• Former Coyotes staffer sues team for overtime pay
• New tech firm has dreams of "Netflix-like" platform for college programs

SILVER: NEXT NBA SEASON MAY NOT START UNTIL 2021

• NBA Commissioner Adam Silver appeared today on CNN’s “Citizen” and said his "best guess" is the next season "won't start until '21." Silver said, "We said a week ago or so that the earliest we would start is Christmas of this year. But the more I’m learning, even listening to Dr. Fauci this morning, I continue to believe that we’re going to be better off getting into January." Silver noted the goal is to play a "standard season" and be able to "play games in home arenas in front of fans."
  
  
• Meanwhile, Silver said of NBA players playing in the Tokyo Games during an NBA season, “It is a factor in our planning." He added, "It would be tough for us to make a decision in January based on the Olympics happening on schedule, when that's so unclear. I just add, there are a lot of great U.S. players and we may be up against the scenario where the top 15 NBA players aren’t competing in the Olympics, but other great American players are competing.”

INDUSTRY LEADERS NAVIGATE REVENUE HIT FROM ATTENDANCE RESTRICTIONS

• The topic of fan attendance at sporting events during the pandemic was a major point of discussion at the AXS Sports Facilities & Franchises and Ticketing Symposium.
  
  
• Blair Listino, the CFO for the Flyers, Wells Fargo Center and Spectacor Gaming, said fans make up 70-80% of the company’s revenue, both directly and indirectly, meaning a significant impact during COVID-19. “If you think of it, it's like the fans are the trunk of the revenue tree and all the different stems that come from that, that's most of our revenue streams,” Listino said. “It's ticketing, it's parking, concession, merchandise.” 
  
  
• AEG CFO Rob Reed noted like others, the events company has had a “big, big hit to revenue” even with some properties returning recently with a small number of fans. Reed said for AEG, it has been about limiting expenses during the pandemic to set up for a strong return when fans are allowed again. “We're going to be in a very strong position when (the pandemic ends),” Reed said. “It's really about getting through this, managing expenses, communicating regularly so that we and they can keep a good positive morale and taking advantage of it when it ends.”
  
  
• Quick hits:
  
  
  • Listino, on what she would have done differently 6 months ago: “We really rolled with the punches. We stayed forward thinking and moved as quickly as we could, as things shifted and changed. One of the biggest things I think that I saw one of our teams do is our corporate partnerships teams really pivoted.”
    
    
  • Reed, on what changes could be in store from an event perspective: “We're looking at a lot of scenarios, looking at our festivals, our facilities. With 25% capacity, 50% capacity, shields between seats, all of those things. I don't anticipate that, but it could go for six months or 12 months.”

COMMUNICATION KEY FOR TEAMS EXECS DURING PANDEMIC

• Proper communication has certainly been a focus for organizations during the pandemic, both internally and externally. Three pro team leaders today joined the AXS Sports Facilities & Franchises and Ticketing Symposium to discuss how they have been managing and what they have learned.
  
  
• BSE Global Senior VP/Communications Mandy Gutmann laid out the thinking of her organization, which has not yet been able to re-open Barclays Center. “There was no playbook for any of this,” Gutmann said. “At this point it's fair to say that we have a lot of answers now that we didn't six months ago. We know that our governor and our mayor are the ones making reopening decisions, there are standardized health procedures, and we've learned how to safely conduct professional sports. It certainly helped bring stability to the day-to-day management.”
  
  
• AMB Sports & Entertainment Senior Director of Corporate & Marketing Communications Heather Sautter stressed a continuous, steady cadence of staying in touch before Atlanta United and Falcons staffers began returning to the office in August. “This was more of how are you handling things? How are you feeling?,” Sautter explained. “Really focused on mental health and wellness. … Really making sure that they knew that there was opportunity to communicate and talk to someone if they needed to.”
  
  
• Steelers Director of Communications Burt Lauten said the team was focused on keeping their season ticket holders and partners informed throughout all of their decision-making this year. “Behind closed doors there was a lot of planning to it, but we always wanted to make sure that our season ticket holders, our corporate partners, any person that had any stake in ticketing, they heard it from us first,” Lauten said. “We didn't want them to see it in the media.” Lauten: “We did make sure that, no matter what, that our fans heard it from the team first rather than reading it on social media or on the news or whatever it may be.”

AUSTIN FC PRESIDENT GIVES UPDATE ON STADIUM CONSTRUCTION, NAMING RIGHTS

• Austin FC President Andy Loughnane told SBJ’s Andrew Levin he is “100% confident that we will be competing" in MLS in 2021, adding the state of readiness the market possesses for its first major-league sports franchise is “incredible,” even despite the pandemic’s impact on the club’s construction, business and fan-engagement practices.
  
  
• Of course, beginning play in 2021 will necessitate somewhere to do so. Loughnane indicated that the club’s new $260 million stadium currently in construction now is 65% complete. He admitted, “There have been instances where we’ve had to make modifications on materials due to sourcing concerns." But he added, “Quite frankly, we’ve been able to remain on schedule with no additional investment in what I would classify as ‘major-change orders.’”
  
  
• Loughnane, who in February revealed that the club had turned down a 10-year, $35 million naming-rights offer in hopes of finding something better, also addressed to what extent the pandemic may have impacted his optimism. “Certainly, the pandemic has had an impact on sponsorship business,” he said. But he added of the turned-down deal, “Given the trajectory of the market and the corporate strength in Austin, we believe that there is opportunity beyond that.”
  
  
• For more insights on Austin FC’s present and future, check out today’s episode of “SBJ Unpacks: The Road Ahead” podcast. Also, make time to revisit Bill King's spotlight on Austin FC in SBJ earlier this year.

FORMER COYOTES TICKET SALES MANAGER SUES TEAM FOR OVERTIME PAY

• A former premium ticket sales manager who worked for the Coyotes for 17 years filed a complaint in federal court against the team yesterday for allegedly failing to pay him overtime compensation required under the Fair Labor Standards Act and Arizona state-law, SBJ’s Karn Dhingra reports. In the complaint, David Paris’ attorney Chad Connelly said the Coyotes illegally classified him as a non-exempt employee under the FLSA and allegedly failed to pay Paris all his earned wages as required under Arizona law. 
  
  
• Connelly’s complaint noted that Coyotes President of Business Operations/Strategy & Development Peter Murphy and VP/Premium Seating & Service Grant Buckbourough, along with both of their wives, are relevant to the allegations in the complaint. Paris has requested a jury trial. He is seeking an undisclosed amount of money.
  
  
• The franchise has been in a state of upheaval in recent weeks, per SBJ’s Mark J. Burns. A month ago, the Coyotes laid off staffers due to financial difficulties, while in July the team and former GM John Chayka had a messy divorce as he abruptly resigned. Most recently, a report surfaced late last week from the Arizona Republic stating that the Coyotes were late on paying $500,000, which included rent and other related fees for their lease of Gila River Arena. 

WMT EVOLVING ATHLETIC SITES TO STORYTELLING PLATFORMS

• In SBJ College tonight, Michael Smith asks if football fans can imagine an on-demand platform that’s full of storytelling and unique content about Notre Dame sports, almost like a Netflix for the Fighting Irish? Andres Focil can. He’s the founder & managing director of WMT, the tech and creative firm that works with 20 college properties and manages official athletic websites for the likes of Clemson, Notre Dame and Ohio State.
  
  
• WMT is working to bring that kind of in-depth storytelling to life for the college clients it serves. The Notre Dame site is up and running and Ohio State’s official site soon will have a content series called “Buckeyes on the Frontlines,” a storytelling format that features former athletes who are first responders and frontline workers.
  
  
• “We’re creating a platform that will have the ability to tell stories even though we might not have games,” Focil said. Until the Big Ten decided to play this fall, he said, “Ohio State was looking at it from a content perspective, from a sponsorship perspective and from a recruiting perspective. It’s a Buckeyes.com 2.0, if you will.”

SPEED READS

• The Voices of Wall Street blog reports the Barstool betting hype "is real," as the Barstool Sportsbook's first week launch "was downloaded 53.6k times, more than DraftKings' & FanDuel's launches combined (26k)." Sportsbook apps also "hit their all-time high for downloads in a single day" this past Sunday.
  
  
• North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced today that he will "allow a capacity of 7%, starting Friday, Oct. 2, for large venues with a seating capacity of more than 10,000." So long as Mecklenburg County allows it, the Panthers "would be able to have about 5,200 fans in attendance" for their second home game of the season Oct. 4 vs. the Cardinals. The Panthers would become the 11th NFL team to allow some level of attendance this season.
  
  

• ESPN's Tim Kurkjian writes as the truncated MLB regular season approaches the finish line, he is "worried that TV executives will see that we can capably call a game from home and wonder why we need to spend all that money to send the crew to the site" in the years to come. Kurkjian: "As a writer, I wonder when I will be allowed into the clubhouse again. ...  I am worried that the way we're covering the game is the way that some of our brilliant new executives have been evaluating the game for the past five or so years: We have stopped watching the games. Too many of our answers come from a computer screen, a spreadsheet, a set of statistics rather that what is happening right in front of us on the field. The human element has been replaced by advanced metrics."
  
  

• NBC Sports put some of last weekend’s top EPL matches on Peacock Premium, which caused a “lot of anger … among soccer fans in the U.S.,” according to soccer writer Grant Wahl. The move comes after fans had “never seen them do that with NBC (Sports) Gold in previous seasons, where the best game of the weekend … was put behind an additional paywall.” Wahl on his weekly podcast said, “If I pay for games to a service, I want that service to have every game live from that league. If that’s not the case … not only is that frustrating for me, I think it’s bad for the growth of soccer in America."
  
  

• ESPN's Scott Van Pelt said that the Raiders playing their first game in Las Vegas is "kind of like an atheist who sees the light and finds faith, the NFL is completely born-again on the topic of gambling." He added, "The stance has shifted at warp speed and they could have baptized everybody in the fountains at the Bellagio during the draft had it been held there this spring as scheduled."

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. Select stories from Sports Business Daily are free, outside the paywall, for the foreseeable future. Below are today's headlines:
  
  
  • Allegiant Stadium Debuts Modestly Without Fans Inside
  • Source: NFLPA Standing Behind 49ers' Criticism Of MetLife Turf
  • Sources: MWC Set To Vote This Week On Fall Football Return
  • IIHF President Rene Fasel Talks NHL At Tokyo Olympics

SBJ UNPACKS -- THE ROAD AHEAD

• Check out the most recent editions of our SBJ Unpacks podcasts:
  
  
  • Austin FC President Andy Loughnane on the expansion club readying itself -- amid this global pandemic -- for MLS play in 2021.
    
    
  • Dan Mannix on how CSM has navigated the pandemic, his decision to step down from his full-time role as the agency's CEO and more.
    
    
  • Pro Football HOF President David Baker on the dedication of Centennial Village as part of the NFL celebrating its 100th birthday.
      
    

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.