(Orlando, FL) – Despite challenges from the worldwide pandemic, the Florida Basketball Association (FBA) intends to play a season in 2020.
Over the past several weeks, the FBA Board of Governors and Board of Directors have outlined a variety of scenarios regarding hosting a season in spite of the complexities caused by Covid-19. Two very specific goals have been firmly established:
- The FBA will make every attempt to host a season, if at all possible, in 2020 regardless of how delayed it might be.
- To aid with logistical challenges and the unknowns health concerns, the entire 2020 FBA season will take place in one centralized yet to be named location in Florida.
In preparation for this contingency plan, the league has made the appropriate adjustments and investments to salvage the 2020 season while also enhancing the quality and production of FBA games. With the unlikelihood of fans being willing or able to attend large gatherings, all games from the centralized location will be streamed Live for the public.
“In this challenging time, we see this as an opportunity for innovation, particularly in terms of the minor league basketball industry,” said Greg Kite, Commissioner of the FBA. “Centralizing to one location gives us an economic approach to streaming every game live, allowing us to show more of the public just how talented and entertaining the FBA product really is.”
In addition to season logistics, the FBA is also wrestling with a formidable plan to ensure the safety and health of all participants. Both Commissioner Kite and FBA Chairman and CEO Mark King have been consulting with health officials, doctors and city leaders to establish appropriate safety measures for all participants.
“The well-being of all participants is our biggest focus right now,” said King. “We must be confident and take the proper precautions to keep our players, referees and staff out of harm’s way. Based on what we’ve learned thus far, we feel very confident that we can implement the appropriate measures to provide a safe environment for everyone.”
While the season will start without fans in attendance, the league has not ruled out the possibility of having games in each team’s respective markets towards the end of the season.
“Formulating a proper, credible, high-quality broadcasting plan and capturing commercial advertising revenue has always been a part of our 10 year plan,” said Kite. “We had already invested in the technology and equipment to undertake this goal before the pandemic. Centralizing to one location was not originally part of that plan, but it definitely helps us logistically.”
While a specified location has been selected, an announcement will remain forthcoming until the plan has been all the way finalized. The start date has been tentatively set for late July, with games being held on the weekends.
“We’ve got a great business model for minor league basketball,” said King. “Some people were overly critical with our innovative approach in 2012, asserting our geographic state model was not sustainable. Ironically, that same approach has proven to be quite advantageous right now, making us far more capable to host a season while most other leagues, including the Euroleague, have either remained in hiatus or thrown in the towel for 2020.”
In conjunction with this announcement, FBA officials, including Kite and King, intend to host a Facebook Live session to further elaborate and field questions from the public. For more information, visit www.thefba.com or follow the league on social media platforms to stay up to date.
The FBA is a Florida-based professional basketball league providing a development, branding and exposure platform for athletes, referees and other individuals seeking to further their professional basketball career.
The Florida Basketball Association 
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