NBA teams are a business, and like nearly every business they are hurting right now. Teams still have expenses — players got paid on March 15 and will again April 1, same with team staff, and most teams are pitching in to help hourly workers at their arenas — yet teams no longer have gate revenue flowing in.
To help out, the NBA is expanding the line of credit franchises can tap into, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.The NBA is planning to raise its credit line to $1.2 billion, which would aid the league in handling its expenses through what is expected to be an extended shutdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, sources told ESPN.
The NBA credit line has been $650 million, so this would represent an increase of $550 million.
The NBA owners discussed that on a conference call Tuesday.
On that same call they heard from former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, speaking to them about the spread of the pandemic and potential timelines, according to the report. Owners came away from that convinced June would be the earliest the NBA could restart, and even that may be too soon.
The league continues to plan for scenarios on what to do when play resumes — play some regular season games? Jump straight to an abbreviated playoffs? — but at this point nobody knows, because nobody is sure how the coronavirus will play out across the United States as a whole.
Which means they may need that extra money to get through.