The Logistics of a Delayed NBA Season at Staples Center: "The League has to Work Around Contracted Dates"

This is how it would work if a full delayed NBA season returned to Staples Center.

If the NBA season returned in June, how exactly would it work? There is the possibility of playing out the remainder of the season, and the possibility of skipping straight to the playoffs.

The logistics for each venue is different, but some have a harder path than others. For Staples Center, it'll require a bit more work. Inside the venue, there are two NBA teams, an NHL team, a WNBA team, and a plethora of concerts. 

Assuming the full season returns in June, that leaves about 3 months to play out the season. "They'll most likely have to play a shortened schedule with more back-to-backs," a Staples Center employee said. When you look at the sheer amount of content inside of the building, it seems like a shortened full season is the only option.

• Remaining Clipper home games: 9
• Remaining Laker home games: 10
• Remaining Kings home games: 7 
• June Sparks home games: 8
• July Sparks home games: 3
• July contracted concerts: 3
• August contracted concerts: 6

None of this includes convention concerts like the BET experience, road games, or potential playoff games. "In an ideal world, the regular season would end in June," a Staples Center employee said. Ending the regular season in June gives the full month of July for Clipper/Laker playoff games, which could ultimately end up being 9-12 games for each team. If either team does make the NBA finals, that gives the flexible time to play through those games, while navigating the contracted concert dates. 

Once August begins, there are six contracted concerts inside of the venue. These are events that can't be moved by Staples Center, unless the NBA somehow figures out the unlikely scenario of getting the concerts to move. "The entertainment industry is in the same position as the sports industry right now, so it would be very hard to move," a Staples Center employee said. "The NBA has to schedule around the contracted dates because they've been booked for months."

When it comes to the actual scheduling of the games, that's done mainly by the NBA, with some help from Staples Center. "It's a matter of giving the dates to the leagues, and trying to fit around them," a Staples Center employee said.

If the full NBA season does return before July, it likely won't be a clean schedule. "It's not impossible, but it won't be fun to figure out," a Staples Center employee said. 

There is no telling if, or when the NBA season will return. The entire world is currently in uncharted territory because of the COVID-19 pandemic. If the season doesn't return until a later time like August, then it might extend into October. At that point, it becomes a matter of cutting losses entirely, and focusing on the 2021 season. 

The future of the 2020 NBA season remains largely on how the country handles the current pandemic. If handled properly, there's still hope for the season.