Sunday, December 22, 2019

NBA MID-SEASON TOURNAMENTS


The TV ratings for many things have been down the last couple of years this includes the NBA. There are many contributing factors to this includes the different ways that people consume content through cord-cutting and the fact the casual fan doesn’t generally tune in until Christmas. One of the ideas that are being floated around to has reportedly been proposed a mid-season tournament to add some excitement to the regular season.  This is an idea that commissioner Adam Silver has been flirting with for a while due to his fascination with the European soccer model. In soccer, many leagues have mid-season tournaments to go along with their regular seasons. The tournament would be like the World Cup you have pool play then the top 8 teams advance to a single-elimination tournament. This idea gives mix feelings because many players on contending teams only care about playing for the NBA championship and many teams in large market team worry about losing money they get from the gate sales of home games. The details of the  proposal include $1 million-dollar prize money per player of the team that wins the tournament and $1.5 Million per coach of the winning team. Also, a play-in tournament for the 7th and 8th seeds for each conference and a reseeding of the playoff semifinals where the teams will be reseeded based on record of the remaining regardless of conference. This must be proposed to the NBA Players Association(NBAPA) by April of 2020 this way if it is approved, they can implement it as soon as the 2021 -2022 season. I like the idea of a mid-season tournament it adds new life to teams that will not have a shot at winning the NBA title. Imagine a team getting hot for 5 games winning the tournament it can give a team a needed morale boost and showcase the talent that the average NBA fan does not get to see because that team is not on many nationally televised games. One thing I would add is if your team does not make the playoffs you have a tournament for the number 1 pick. This disincentive tanking in the NBA as well in addition to attaching the cash incentive as well. Reseeding in the conference semifinals and play in for the 7th and 8th seeds should not get much push back a new wrinkle that will push teams to make sure they are better. The prize money must be more per player especially with the sponsorship that the mid-season tournament would bring for the NBAPA to consider this being agreed to. Let me know are you feeling the idea of mid-season tournaments in the NBA?

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