The plans for creating an in-season tournament are apparently becoming more concrete again. As ESPN reports, the league and the NBA Players Association have held discussions that such a tournament could become part of the schedule for the 2022/23 season at the earliest.
The negotiations therefore revolve around a tournament that begins with a preliminary round that is part of the regular season. The best eight teams should then move into a knockout phase, in which the decision about progress is made in one game. The winner should be determined shortly before Christmas, the regular season would be shortened from 82 to 78 games.
A million dollars each is earmarked as a bonus for the players on the winning team, but further incentives could still be created before the format is finally approved. In return, the NBA hopes for additional income through lucrative television and advertising contracts in order to develop positively in the long term in financial terms.
Commissioner Adam Silver has long been considered a big fan of such an additional event, the cup competitions in European football serve as a model for him. He also believes that the idea will also delight players and fans, as the play-in tournament was also extremely well received. With this, the last two playoff participants of each conference have been played for two seasons.
The talks are to be intensified as part of the All-Star Weekend in Cleveland in February, in the past there had also been critical voices among the owners of the big market teams. The reason: The omission of two home games results in short-term shortfalls in income. The franchises earn up to four million dollars for a single game in front of a home audience. In the past few months, however, confidence has grown that an agreement is within reach.
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