Report: 5-10 NBA Teams Expected to Allow Fans in Arenas to Start 2020-21 Season

The NBA will be returning in December, but as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spike around the United States, most NBA teams won't be hosting games in front of fans. 

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, only 5-10 teams are expected to have spectators in attendance to start the season. 

The NBA's restart to the 2019-20 season at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, during the summer was an enormous success from a health perspective. However, it was one thing to ask 22 teams to play eight regular-season games and the postseason while quarantined in Orlando, separated from their families until midway through the postseason. It would be far more difficult for players, coaches, staffs and media members, among others, to do that over the course of a full season. 

A return to teams hosting games at their respective arenas was inevitable, and as we've seen in other sports, it will present its complications. One of those to start the season will be a number of empty arenas. 

Confirmed coronavirus cases have surged in the United States in November, with the country now up to 11.1 million positive tests and 247,116 deaths since the start of the pandemic, per CNN.com. Both figures are higher than any other country in the world. 

As cases rise ahead of the winter, many cities are announcing new restrictions. For instance, Philadelphia has prohibited indoor dining, indoor gatherings and will not allow any fans at Eagles games. Other cities and areas are taking similar measures.

Those measures may stretch well into the NBA season, costing the league a major source of revenue. Such restrictions have been the reality for professional sporting leagues in 2020, and they seem poised to extend into 2021.