The financial implications of the ongoing sports shutdown are going to be huge in every sport, and they may cost players some serious money.
The latest concern comes in the NBA, where games are likely to be played without fans for an extended period of time whenever action finally does return. According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, league sources believe that the league’s salary cap is “certain” to fall from its current figure of $109.1 million.
That will benefit teams who have built around younger and cheaper talent, but high-payroll teams are going to face serious issues within the next year or two unless things unexpectedly change soon.
As noted by commissioner Adam Silver on Friday’s conference call with players, revenue from fans attending games makes up roughly 40 percent of the league total. That’s not coming back for a while, and the league’s revenues are going to suffer in a major way as a result.
The NBA is not the only professional league facing major salary cap ramifications if fans can’t return to the stands quickly.
