NBA commissioner Adam Silver recently told that he hopes that the league will come back to normalcy rather sooner than later, and while there’s still not an estimated date for the upcoming NBA season, they hope to have fans in attendance, even if it’s at a limited capacity.
However, that still doesn’t solve the biggest challenge the Toronto Raptors face, as the travel restrictions between the United States and Canada could force them to play their home games in the U.S. just like other teams from the city had to do over the past couple of months, according to a report by Yahoo! Sports:
“One big focus for next season has been the status of the Toronto Raptors. Due to the United States’ handling of COVID-19, travel into Canada has been banned. MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays played their home games in Buffalo, and the Toronto FC of the MLS played its games in East Hartford, Connecticut. The Raptors face a similar dilemma, and league sources tell Yahoo Sports one alternate location that has been broached is Louisville, Kentucky. Former NBA player and successful businessman Junior Bridgeman has been in contact with the NBA, considering Louisville has the KFC Yum! Center that is NBA-ready,” the report said, adding that there isn’t a final decision on this topic yet.
Louisville is a basketball town. People are always rooting for the University of Kentucky or Louisville University and their fans would definitely love to have some NBA action in their backyard, especially if they look to take down Seattle as the main candidate for an expansion team:
“Louisville wouldn’t be first in line in the event of relocation or expansion; Seattle is. But it seems to be an easier sell to get the Raptors in Louisville for a short period — or even sharing a current NBA market, according to sources. How this goes with the league’s objectives of getting fans in seats is an interesting proposition if the Raptors would play home games in, say, New York or Chicago, given there’s no natural fan base there,” the report added.
Of course, a lot of things can change between today and the start of the season, so there’s still a chance that the Raptors play in front of their diehard fans.
