Why the NBA is desperate to play 70 regular-season games

As the NBA tries to figure out if and when it can resume the season, the league will have to answer one big question: Are regular-season games going to be played, or will the league jump straight into the playoffs? Many assume the latter, but unless the NBA is willing to lose even more money than it's currently hemorrhaging, it's likely league officials will try to get to at least 70 games. 

Why? Regional sports networks.

The NBA has a deal with local stations that air teams' games, which requires the league to deliver at least 70 games. If the NBA fails to deliver, it would have to refund money to the regional sports networks. It's a fact that teams are well-aware of as they discuss playing more games.

Currently, all 30 NBA teams have played between 63-67 games, so if the regular season were to stop now, none of them would have reached the minimum number of games promised to their respective regional sports networks. ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported that if the league returns, it plans to get to at least 70 regular-season games.

"What they would love to do is to get to 70 games," said Windhorst. "And the reason is it's 70 is a key number is because that is what the deliverable is to the regional sports networks. They are promised 70 games."

Even if each team plays 70, there are still concerns due to the amount of games teams have played on national TV rather than on their local networks.

"Now, just because a team like the Lakers, for example, to get to 70 games... they wouldn't necessarily be able to deliver on that because they've had a lot of national games," Windhorst said. "But getting to 70 would be helpful in retaining revenue because they wouldn't have to refund some to the local TV."

If the NBA is able to figure out a way to not cancel the season, you can bet that it will come with at least enough regular-season games to appease the regional networks. Otherwise, the league will find itself in a deeper financial hole than it already is thanks to the coronavirus.