Hometown Broadcasting Sports Wednesday 5/13/20
13 May 2020 Sports
The National Basketball Players Association started polling its membership Tuesday about how individuals stand on a return to play this season, sources told ESPN.
NBPA regional representatives — including Tim McCormick and Frank Brickowski — were among the union officials polling players with a yes or no question on their current desire to return to play this season amid the coronavirus pandemic. Those officials told players that their individual responses and identities would be kept confidential within the NBPA.
Commissioner Adam Silver told players that no decision needed to be made in the month of May, and that a one- or two-site setup for teams was among the most likely of scenarios — possibly in Orlando or Las Vegas, according to audio of the call reviewed by ESPN.
The union and NBA agreed on a deal that would begin with Friday’s bimonthly paychecks to withhold 25% of player salaries in the event games are formally canceled under the league’s Force Majeure provision in the collective bargaining agreement.
The NBA suspended play on March 11.
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NFL and club executives have agreed on a proposal to raise the debt limit for each team from $350 million to $500 million for the 2020 season, league and ownership sources told ESPN.
The agreement, reached during a conference call Monday, is a response to the financial uncertainties caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the sources said. Owners will vote on the proposal May 19. A league spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The increased debt limit has been discussed among league and team executives for weeks, as clubs push for access to extra money in case games must be played without fans this season. It could cost clubs tens of millions of dollars in local revenue if games are played in empty stadiums.
Patrick Rishe, who directs the sports business program at Washington University in St. Louis, conducted an analysis for ESPN that estimated the sudden vanishing of sports would erase at least $12 billion in revenue even before figuring any impact for the NFL and college football.
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A multihour meeting between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association on Tuesday was a first step in addressing the complex issues facing a restart for the sport amid the coronavirus pandemic, though the discussion didn’t involve any economic components pertaining to player compensation, sources familiar with the meeting told ESPN.
Items addressed include timing and logistics for a second spring training, potential rule changes, roster sizes and transaction rules. A good bulk of the meeting revolved around COVID-19 testing protocols, including contact tracing and response procedures in case of positive tests. Details for much of the health and safety concerns will be relayed to the association in the coming days. Also addressed were ballpark access procedures moving forward, as well as health and safety issues away from the ballpark.
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A decision that could have a major impact on the 2020 college football season came from California State University system chancellor Timothy White on Tuesday. White, who oversees the system’s 23 universities, announced that its campuses will hold fall classes almost exclusively online due to the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The decision made the CSU system — the largest four-year public university system in the country with more than 480,000 undergraduate students — the first to tell its students they would not be returning to campus for the fall semester.
That does not bode well for the normal return of football in the fall, especially when coupled with recent comments from Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson and NCAA president Mark Emmert. In an interview with the Mountain West Network, Thompson said there would be no athletics taking place until campuses are open and fully operational. Emmert offered a similar perspective in an interview posted on the NCAA’s social media channels, saying that he does not envision a scenario where football (or any other fall sport) can take place if students cannot return to campus.
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Road America announced Tuesday that due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the Governor of Wisconsin’s safer-at-home order being set to expire May 26 – that the racing portion of the May 29-31 weekend will continue, but without fans. Although Road America and MotoAmerica worked to find an alternative, the task proved impossible due to unknown restrictions on public outdoor events. MotoAmerica, however, is still planning to return June 26-28, along with all previously scheduled public outdoor activities, including Vintage MotoFest. The June 26-28 event will also feature the MotoAmerica Heritage Cup and the opening round of the Mini Cup by Motul.
Customers who have already purchased tickets, camping or other items, for the May 29-31 MotoAmerica Superbike Series weekend, are encouraged to hold onto those items for the June 26-28 MotoAmerica Superbike Series event weekend.
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