NBL New Season Gets Delayed Until Early 2021

The NBL has delayed the NBL season until early 2021 due to COVID-19. The league made an official announcement regarding the same on September 14, Monday. The decision revolves around the league’s desire to enable as many fans to attend the game as possible. With Australia still navigating through the pandemic, there are chances that the number would increase soon. The extended date will give the clubs another opportunity to play their games in front of more fans. 

Per the sources, the league has shown absolute agreement with the start date. However, the last decision on the start date will depend on a number of factors including coronavirus cases, travel & border restrictions. The game has been pushed back to January because of the financial concerns born out of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement, the Executive Chairman Larry Kestelman, NBL made an announcement of the 2020/21 season to get delayed at least until mid-January. This will increase the chances of having more fans in the stadium and consequently boosting the revenue. 

The National Basketball League Usual Season.

Usually, the NBL season starts in October, which was previously delayed until December. However, the professional sports competition that contains soccer, rugby league & more had resumed in the middle of the year, but the number of fans in the stadium was only limited because of the several health & safety issues. The organizers have always emphasized on the health & safety of the staff & players. Taking every little aspect into consideration, the organizers have decided to delay the new season. 

In addition to that, playing in front of the fans is another important consideration that has made them think about delaying the season. Last month with Melbourne United 12 players getting infected with coronavirus, the league had to go through really tough times. In fact, Melbourne was one of the centers for a wave of infections and the city has been in the state of lockdown. The NBL will play a full season and it may also set up different hubs to make that happen. Last, in March, the NBL had to call off its Grand Final amid the concerns of the pandemic that was to happen between the Perth Wildcats and Sydney Kings. And, the Wildcats were declared the champion. 

About NBL (National Basketball League)

The National Basketball League is a professional men's basketball league in Australia and New Zealand. NBL was found in 1979 and currently, it has nine teams - of which eight are from Australia & one from New Zealand. In the past few years, because of the reduction, relocation, or expansion - many of the teams have ceased to exist. Currently, the league has nine teams - the teams are located in Wollongong, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Cairns, Auckland & Perth. The oldest of all teams are the Hawks and they have participated in all the games in 1979. For each of the teams, the salary cap is $AU1.1 million as a 'soft cap'. Let’s hope when the players return to the ground, there are fans in large numbers to cheer their favorite players.