LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer told Bloomberg that he expects at least an eight-digit loss for the team amid the NBA stoppage due to coronavirus.
We all knew that the NBA was likely going to lose money due to the hiatus caused by the coronavirus but weren’t sure as to how much. Now, LA Clippers’ owner Steve Ballmer has given us a figure.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Ballmer revealed that he believes the team will incur at least an eight-digit loss due to the hiatus.
For all you non-math people, that’s at least ten million dollars.
"“It’ll be eight digits, how’s that?” he said. “Now you’ve got to start with what we were either going to make or lose before the season started, but net, it’ll certainly be an eight-digit loss for us.”"
The loss may be mainly due to the coronavirus shutting the league down but does have several other factors. For starters, the NBA’s TV ratings were down for a majority of the season.
There were also the comments by Houston Rockets’ General Manager Daryl Morey, which caused exhibition games in China to be canceled and for Chinese television to not air games for a time. The virus may have caused major losses but the league was already in the midst of what seemed to be a down season.
You can listen to the whole interview with Steve Ballmer below:
The league has said they are still talking daily and trying to find a way to resume the season. Ideas have ranged from finishing the whole season to having a tournament amongst healthy players who are cleared to participate. As of now, no official decision has been made and the league is just continuing to monitor the station.
While we know an eight-figure loss won’t hurt Ballmer in the long run, no one wants to see him lose money if it means the NBA isn’t in action. Hopefully, the world is able to get this virus under control and we can see the teams return to the court before more money is lost.