Here's hoping we can get it done right

Sport has always been a wonderful escape during challenging times. Everyone is doing it tough right now - both in terms of going about the practicalities of their daily lives, but also the financial impact on businesses of all shapes and sizes and, by necessity in many instances, their employees. 

We are a little bit different at the NBL. The simplest thing we could have done in the face of the outbreak of COVID-19 would have been to cancel the season, place an asterisk next to the "NBL Champions 2019/20" in the record books, and not incurred the additional costs of completing our Finals series, given that there's virtually no revenue being generated by games being played in empty arenas to offset those costs. 

We are not even in the same boat as many of the other national sporting leagues here in Australia, that can justify playing in empty stadiums, somewhat protected by the fact that the majority of their revenues come from lucrative broadcast rights fees, which can in turn be drawn upon to support their clubs. Yes, their profitability will take a hit, but that is an enviable position compared to where we sit right now. Whilst we are not there yet, we will continue to broadcast each of the games of the Finals series live to air - both here in Australia and with our streaming partners all around the world. Hopefully, being just about the only live professional basketball being played at the moment, we will garner the attention of some new fans out there.

We as basketball fans should all be grateful to the Sydney Kings, the Perth Wildcats and their respective players, management and ownership for their approach to this situation. Make no mistake, they are doing a great deal of the heavy lifting by playing in empty stadiums, hosting games that would have been the biggest revenue generating opportunities that they would have otherwise enjoyed all season. It is a cruel twist - being the two best NBL teams all season - to have to bear such a big part of this burden. 

Throughout conversations in recent days between the League, and the Kings and Wildcats management and ownership, it was clear I think that everyone shared a view that the players, coaches, owners, staff and volunteers deserved a fitting conclusion to what has been an incredible season as a direct result of all their hard work. But also I think there there was an undertone that, in times when everyone is doing it tough, a little bit of continuity and familiarity - something to take the public's mind off the gravity of the situation for a few hours - was potentially very impactful.

So while circumstances continue to change on an hourly and daily basis, here's hoping that we can still crown our champions at the conclusion of a captivating best of five game series and may the best team win.