Following the success of the recently concluded play-in tournament, the league is pondering upon the introduction of a mid-season tournament. The said tournament aims to boost the ratings as well as fan interest, but the talks are still at a very early stage.
The NBA executives are reportedly pleased with how the mid-season tournament turned out which helped determine the final two playoff spots from each conference with a series of matches.
NBA are interested in talking to the franchises as well as the players on their take of a prospective mid-season tournament. The talks could begin this year itself but even with the green light, the event won’t take place in the next season.
The idea of a mid-season tournament was deployed before pandemic struck, the planned format involved complete knockout matches with a total of eight-teams. The members of the winning team would be awarded $1 million payout as well.
Now, the league would require atleast two-thirds of favourable voutes out of the 30 franchises to implement this into action.
NBA still need to clear several hurdles to bring this idea into vision
The elite players of the top franchises won’t be appealed with the prize money associated with the tournament and would very well use the period to take a break.
“One of the main concerns is that star players who don’t need the money would prefer having a break in the middle of the season over being a part of the tournament. Teams in big markets also want assurances that they would not lose revenue if the midseason tournament shortened the regular season to 78 games,” reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski
The already existing play-in tournament has not been taken well by the players, with the league’s top players speaking against it.
“I don’t understand the idea of the play-in [tournament]. You play 72 games to get in the playoffs, then maybe you lose two in a row and you’re out of the playoffs. I don’t see the point of that,” Luka Doncic had said back in April
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