NBA considering radical changes to increase interest in regular season

The NBA is considering radical changes to the current regular season and postseason setups in order to help increase fan interest.

ESPN reported on Saturday morning about the changes the league is discussing with the players union and broadcast partners. The proposals would include:

– Shortened regular season to minimum of 78 games
– In-season tournament
– Play-in games for the 7-10 seeds in each conference to reach the playoffs
– Re-seeding based on records, regardless of conference, in the semifinal round of the playoffs

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has been considering many of these ideas and pushing for them for a while, believing they would help generate interest. The in-season tournament, which is modeled after European soccer, is something Silver has discussed in the past.

The NBA is already having a tough time with TV ratings down and star players sitting out games due to load management. The hope is that an in-season tournament could help generate more interest in regular season games. This tournament would include games on the regular season schedule and run after Thanksgiving. The changes could begin for the 2021-2022 season. You can read the full details at ESPN.

This is wise of the NBA, and something MLB should seriously consider based on how long their regular season is and how unimportant many of their games are.