Commissioner Adam Silver this week revealed that the NBA is considering an idea to make the regular season much more interesting for fans.
During a press conference in Las Vegas, where the summer league is taking place, Silver mentioned that the NBA is considering a Premier League-style midseason tournament.
Silver said the league is considering the idea of a midseason tournament, similar to soccer. Interesting. #nba
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) July 16, 2014
Each year the English Premier League holds the FA Cup, a tournament lasting a few weeks during its season.The Premier League is put on pause for the FA Cup games to be played. The FA Cup is open to hundreds of the country's professional teams.
While Silver didn't go into any detail about the NBA's discussions, he did mention the league is looking into the possibility of an FA Cup-style competition.
"There's very few things that you can win in the NBA," he said. "I mean, when you think about European soccer, for example, they have the FA Cup and they have other tournaments throughout the season, so I could imagine if we were to look at some sort of midseason tournament I would imagine doing something in Vegas. This would be a terrific neutral-site location."
In addition to adding another trophy to the league, this tournament would presumably create intrigue for teams that are out of the running for a playoff spot. Tanking, and the subsequent negative effect it has on fan interest, has been a serious problem for the league in recent years.
Of course, it would take significant maneuvering for the tournament to happen. Adding or removing games to the NBA season would require a revised CBA, plus the league would have to rearrange its schedule for this to happen.
Still, it's promising to hear that Silver and the league are continually looking for ways to improve.
Key takeaway from Adam Silver's presser today, of course, is that he continues to be open to hearing new ideas to make the league better
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 16, 2014
The NBA has established itself as one of the more innovative leagues in North America, in recent years rolling out he said and sleeved jerseys, social media awards and a slate of preseason and regular-season international games.
