It's All Interconnected

I saw an article the other day that was basically trying to trash the NHL for its playoff ratings.  Game 5 of the Lightning-Islanders series was one of the lowest-rated ever, and the ratings for the Western Conference Final between Dallas and Vegas weren't particularly high either.  I think this was meant to be treated as news, but it's not really anything that should've surprised anybody.  There IS a reason they don't typically play hockey in September, after all.

Comparing this year's ratings to last year's or any other year's is patently ridiculous.  As we all know, this is an unusual year, so it needs to be treated as such.  Especially when you're talking about the TV ratings for a sport that's playing out of season (and typically draws the lowest ratings of the four major sports anyway).  In a normal year, the NHL wouldn't have afternoon playoff games on weekdays (let alone multiple afternoon games every weekday).

The NHL obviously would've loved to not go up against the NFL.  Just like they would've preferred not to take a four-month break and play during the summer.  And, obviously, they would much rather be traveling all over North America with fans in the stands.  But these are the cards they've been dealt, and I think the NHL has done a tremendous job.

As expected, the ratings for the NBA playoff games are better than those for the NHL.  There are more NBA fans than NHL fans, and they're gonna watch the games whenever they're on.  And the NBA doesn't seem nearly as bothered by the summer time frame, which some NBA owners have been public about their desire to explore prior to the pandemic.  This essentially has given them a free test run to see if it'll work.

However, while the NBA moving to the summer permanently might sound like a great idea to some owners, it could present a major logistical challenge.  Because one of the things that our months without sports taught us is how interconnected everything is.  And making such a dramatic change would upset that balance tremendously.

Let's start by looking at the arenas.  Whether they host teams in both sports or not, these arenas know that they've got 40-80 dates already booked between October-April that they have to schedule around.  Then they fill more dates with college basketball, concerts and other events.  While that can lead to some busy days for the arena staffs, it also makes it easier to plan a schedule for May-September.

Yes, they'll obviously need to keep dates open into June for possible playoff games, but they'll also know that they'll have the rest of the summer free.  That's when a lot of big-name musical artists tour.  If you book concert dates in July, chances are you won't have to change them.  Likewise, if the arena needs to go offline for any sort of renovations or upgrades, when is the best time to do it?  In December, when you lose all the sports revenue?  Or in July when the arena's dark anyway?

College basketball, meanwhile, can't really deviate from its November-March schedule.  So, if the NBA were to move its season to the summer, when would the draft be?  Likewise, what are guys going to do during the months they'll have between competitive games?  (This year's draft has been moved to November, but next season might not start until January, a full 10 months since their last game.)

Then there's the elephant in the room--next summer's Olympics.  The NBA doesn't seem to care too much about the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics.  In a way, I get why they don't.  But they should.  Because a number of countries that are relying on having their NBA players available for the qualifying tournament and the Olympics themselves suddenly won't, which obviously greatly impacts their chances.  And Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is also the head coach of the U.S. Olympic team, so I'm not sure how that's expected to work out.

European soccer provided a great example of how these schedule changes can trickle down.  When all the domestic leagues suspended their seasons, the Champions League was in the middle of the quarterfinal round.  And, since finishing the domestic leagues was prioritized, the conclusion of the Champions League had to wait until those were done.

Those European soccer teams got a whopping six weeks off between the end of the 2019-20 season and the start of the 2020-21 season.  (And during that gap, they played group stage games of the ridiculous UEFA Nations Cup for some reason.)  The reason they weren't given a longer break was because they didn't change the date for the Champions League Final.  They couldn't.  Because the rescheduled Euro 2020 is scheduled for the same June-July dates next year.

But by condensing this season, it gets European soccer back on schedule.  They'll be able to have a "normal" 2021-22 season that starts in mid-August and ends with the Champions League Final in early June.  That's even more important when you consider the 2022-23 schedule has already been thrown off by the late World Cup.

Both the NBA and NHL originally set a goal of December 1 for the opening of next season.  Neither one thinks that's realistic anymore.  The NHL's main concern is whether the border will be open.  That's less of a concern in the NBA, which only has the one Canadian team, but Commissioner Adam Silver has still indicated next season may not start until January at the earliest (although I have a hunch they'll want to preserve the Christmas dates they're so protective of).

They've also both indicated that it's their intention to play a full 82-game schedule, followed by the standard four rounds of playoffs.  I'm not sure if that's possible without playing deep into the summer again (when the Olympics become a problem).  And the later they go, the more of an impact it'll have on the 2021-22 season (which, for the NHL, may include an Olympic break).

It's also worth remembering that the leagues' TV partners set their schedules months in advance.  I give NBC, TNT and ESPN a lot of credit for adjusting everything on the fly to broadcast the playoffs, but we've already seen a number of conflicts between the NBA/Stanley Cup Playoffs and other major events, both regularly scheduled and rescheduled.  That was unavoidable in this crazy year when just playing those events is the priority.  But would you rather play your finals in June, when the only other major sport going on is baseball?  Or in the already oversaturated September/October?

When this season was interrupted and the playoffs were moved to the summer, everyone knew next season would be impacted.  But the later next season starts, the more it impacts 2021-22.  Which means it won't be until the 2022-23 season, at least, that things are back to "normal."