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SBJ Unpacks: MLS Discussing April 2021 Start


Tonight in SBJ Unpacks: Sources tell Mark J. Burns that MLS may start its 2021 season a month later than usual.

  • Leagues ponder respective 2020-21 season outlooks
  • California fans continue to make presence known at World Series
  • PGA Tour seeks return to normalcy
  • ESPN nixes planned college hoops bubble in Orlando
  • A look at the NBA's role in increasing voter turnout

  • This free newsletter keeps you up to date on the biggest challenges facing sports. Click here to sign up to receive nightly updates on the industry's winding road to recovery.

 

SOURCES: MLS MAY KICK OFF 2021 SEASON IN APRIL

  • Multiple options are on the table for what the start of the 2021 MLS season could look like, including talks of matches now beginning in April, several sources tell SBJ’s Mark J. Burns.

  • The possibility of a later start date stems from numerous factors, sources say, including key stakeholders further assessing what the state of the pandemic might be in early 2021, as well as waiting for more fans to be allowed to attend matches based on guidelines provided by local officials and health authorities. 

  • The possibility of the CONCACAF Champions League tournament resuming after the MLS Cup concludes on Dec. 12 is another factor contributing to talks of a later start, these sources said. LAFC, the Montreal Impact, Atlanta United FC and NYC FC remain involved in the competition. 

  • MLS Commissioner Don Garber spoke at the National Sports Safety & Security Conference recently, saying, “We generally start in March, but I’m not sure that will happen this year. As the other leagues have talked about starting later, we’re thinking about the same thing.” He also noted that question marks remain about when there will be a vaccine that’s “readily available.”

  • Garber on fan attendance: “We have to model out a dozen different scenarios, whether that’s how many of our teams will allow fans, at what level will they allow them and what are our forecasts that even if they are allowed to have fans, what level of attendance would take place. That all has economic ramifications because we are a gameday-driven business.” 

 

OTHER LEAGUES PONDER RESPECTIVE 2020-21 SEASON OUTLOOKS

  • The NBA is "pursuing a pre-Christmas Day start and a reduced regular-season schedule" for the 2020-21 season, "abandoning plans to delay the opening with hopes of incorporating fans back into arenas," according to sources cited by ESPN's Wojnarowski & Windhorst. Sources said that the league is "proposing several changes to next season that include a 72-game regular season, a play-in tournament and the likelihood of no All-Star Game or All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis." 

  • The NHL is still "aiming for a Jan. 1 start" to the 2020-21 season, and the objective "remains to play a full 82-game season with full arenas, but the league understands that is not likely," according to a source cited by the N.Y. Post's Larry Brooks. A shorter schedule and the "possibility of starting the season in a limited number of 'hub cities' would require authorization from the NHL and the NHLPA." Groups of teams "would be sent to designated hub cities to compete for two-to-three weeks, and then shuttle home for a week or so of practice before their next assignment." 

  • Meanwhile, Eric Prisbell in this week's print issue of SBJ writes MLB "now has a full offseason to see what happens with the virus before needing to make any firm plans about seating" for the 2021 season. MLB Chief Operations & Strategy Officer Chris Marinak said, "We feel that we are going to have a pretty wide swath of the league open for business in terms of fans next year. Whether that's 100% of teams and at what capacity I think is unclear at this point. But I think the experience that we have had in Arlington has shown us that there is a way to pull this off and there is a way to do this safely."

 

 

CALIFORNIA FANS MAKE UP NEARLY 40% OF WORLD SERIES TICKET PURCHASE

  • California-based buyers make up 38% of the total ticket purchase across the entire World Series from Arlington's Globe Life Field, according to data from StubHub analyzed by SBJ's Karn Dhingra. That percentage was trending around 20-25% early in the series and is up from 36% at the end of last week.

  • Texas-based buyers account for 24% of sales, while 10% of ticket buyers are from Florida.

  • Meanwhile, last-minute ticketing company Gametime reports the average get-in price for tomorrow night's Game 6 is at $767, while the most expensive ticket comes in at $4,099. For a potential Game 7, the get-in price is $431 and the most expensive seat is $8,201. Ticket prices for Games 6 and 7 of the 2019 Nationals-Astros World Series were $1,262 and $840, respectively. 

 

PGA TOUR SEEKS RETURN TO NORMALCY

  • The PGA Tour beginning this week at the Bermuda Championship is allowing "small numbers" of fans back on the course for the first time since March, writes SBJ's John Lombardo.

  • The Tour "will allow 500 fans per day" at the Bermuda Championship, which begins Thursday, then "about 2,000 fans per day will be allowed" next week at the Vivint Houston Open. Based on local guidelines, the Tour also has "allowed the resumption of the lucrative pro-am events," which are "major perks for a tournament’s clients and a prime generator for fundraising efforts."

  • The Tour over the past three weeks has seen only three players return positive tests, but the popularity of said players (Tony Finau, Dustin Johnson and Adam Scott) has "added to the anxiety over the virus," on Tour, per the Palm Springs Desert Sun's Larry Bohannan. He wrote, "What all this means is that nothing is assured in sports these days, even on a PGA Tour that has been a model for how to get events played. What top players might have to withdraw from The Masters in three weeks, a tournament that will already be missing its massive and vocal gallery?"

 

ESPN WILL NOT HOLD COLLEGE HOOPS BUBBLE EVENTS IN ORLANDO

  • ESPN’s plans to set up an NBA-like bubble for its college basketball events in Orlando "have been scuttled due to ongoing differences between the network and the participating schools regarding the health and safety protocols required for participation," per The Athletic.

  • The decision "impacts 10 events owned by ESPN and more than two dozen schools who were supposed to play in them." The plans to "move the ESPN events from a variety of locations to Orlando were never finalized, so the network isn’t canceling anything so much as abandoning its efforts to bring it to fruition."

  • CBS Sports' Kyle Boone writes, "Whether or not some of these events get rescheduled or not, the fact that multi-team events -- a month out from the start of the season -- are being canceled or pushed elsewhere is not a good sign." Schools planning to play in the events now canceled "must scramble to fill schedules elsewhere on short notice, and there's at least some behind-the-scenes momentum to move to a conference-only schedule for this season amidst last-minute chaos."

 

OUTSIDE CONTRIBUTORS: BIGGER THAN BASKETBALL

  • Tonight's op-ed contribution is from NYU academic director Dr. Daniel G. Kelly II, who previously was the faculty director of the Sports Industry Management Program at Georgetown University. He writes under the header, "NBA Putting Words Into Action, But More Can Be Done."

  • "NBA owners have agreed to allow arenas to serve as polling places for the election. What if the NBA players greeted voters in their respective cities during early voting dates through Nov. 1, leading to Election Day on Nov. 3? It is one thing for the NBA players to register themselves, but it would be another for them to use their social media platforms and voices to motivate their followers and supporters to exercise their right to vote. This makes it more than just creating spaces -- this makes it about showing up."

  • To read the full contribution, click here.

 

SPEED READS

  • The Saints yesterday welcomed fans to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for the first time this season, and 3,000 season-ticket holders were "randomly picked to witness" a win over the Panthers. Ticket holders were "tested for fever at the gate and required to wear masks." They were "seated in pairs or small clusters in the lower level only," with a mask monitor "assigned to each section." Below are more NFL attendance numbers from markets allowing fans this weekend:

NFL GAMES WITH FANS THIS WEEKEND
GAME
VENUE
ATTENDANCE
Falcons-Lions
Mercedes-Benz Stadium
7,796
Browns-Bengals
Paul Brown Stadium
9,732
Steelers-Titans
Nissan Stadium
10,355
Packers-Texans
NRG Stadium
12,618
Chiefs-Broncos
Empower Field at Mile High
5,314
Seahawks-Cardinals
State Farm Stadium
1,200
Download the
NFL Attendance Week 7

 

  • A new COVID-19 insurance policy directed at college athletic departments could cover "some 450,000 athletes at more than 1,200 NCAA schools," although it is "unknown how many will purchase the policy," according to ESPN's Fainaru & Fainaru-Wada. ADs and conference commissioners "expressed interest in the coverage," which many had "thought to be unobtainable because of the potential risks."

  • Feld Entertainment, the Florida-based parent of shows such as Disney on Ice and Monster Jam, is making its way back from a turbulent 2020, per the Bradenton Herald. Monster Jam’s first live shows since the pandemic were this past weekend at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, and Disney on Ice is "in rehearsal for a multi-city tour" Nov. 6-15 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Feld Entertainment also "partnered with IMG Academy to host the WNBA season and championships" by "providing the courts and space for TV production during the pandemic."

  • To celebrate the Rams’ first "Monday Night Football" game in SoFi Stadium tonight vs. the Bears, Postmates, the team’s new official mobile order delivery partner, teamed up with Fanatics to deliver Rams gear to fans in L.A. on-demand. From 10am PT through kickoff, a curated selection of Rams gear from Fanatics was available on the Postmates app for fans in select areas in the city. The dedicated “LA Rams Team Store by Fanatics” featured jerseys, sweatshirts, t-shirts, hats, women’s apparel and more available to be delivered to fans' door. Meanwhile, SPORTTECHIE writes under the header, "Inside the L.A. Rams’ Fan Engagement Pivot: ‘Ancillary Avenues Are Now Priority Avenues.’"

 

Postmates teamed up with Fanatics to deliver Rams gear to fans in L.A. on-demand today

 

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SBJ UNPACKS -- THE ROAD AHEAD

 

 

Nov. 1 Deadline For Forty Under 40 Nominations Approaching

Sports Business Journal will recognize the next generation of sports leaders with the 2021 Class of Forty Under 40

Do you know a young sports business executive whose work is leading and reshaping the industry? Do not miss your chance to nominate them for this honor.

Visit www.FortyUnder40Awards.com to nominate yourself or someone else. 

Nominations close at 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 1.

 

 

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