TAMPA, Fla. — The Toronto Raptors will open their NBA season next month with Tampa as their temporary home.
Unable to gain an exemption to travel in and out of Canada due to the country's coronavirus-related travel restrictions, the Raptors will play their home games at Amalie Arena and train in the Tampa Bay area for now.
The NBA season begins Dec. 22, and training camp opens Dec. 1.
"The Raptors have worked diligently with public health officials at the local, provincial and federal level to secure a plan that would permit us to play our 2020-21 games on home soil and on our home court at Scotiabank Arena (in Toronto)," Raptors team president Masai Ujiri said in a statement.
"... Ultimately, the current public health situation facing Canadians, combined with the urgent need to determine where we will play means that we will begin our 2020-21 season in Tampa, Florida."
As in the U.S., coronavirus cases are surging in Canada, prompting provinces and local governments to make stricter restrictions throughout the country.
Tampa emerged as a leading candidate to host the Raptors earlier this month, but Amalie Arena was also considered as an NHL hub city.
Amalie Arena presumably could host both the Raptors and Lightning if the NHL decides to allow teams to play games in their home arenas. But a hub-city setup, which would require six to eight teams playing games in the arena, now appears unlikely. The NHL is still aiming for a Jan. 1 start, but owners and players haven't come to an agreement on a return.
With less than two weeks remaining until the opening of NBA training camps, the Raptors were scrambling to find a new home. When an 11th-hour attempt to gain an exception from the Canadian government to travel in and out of the U.S. — those entering Canada must quarantine for 14 days — failed, the team was left to look for a temporary home in the U.S.
"While we remained hopeful that our friends at the Raptors would be able to play their games at home in Toronto, we're excited by the opportunity to help them start their season at Amalie Arena," said Rob Higgins, the executive director of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, in a statement. "Kudos to our community partners for working quickly to make this happen. Our partnership with the Raptors organization is already off to a strong start and our community is focused on serving as a great interim host to them for the duration of their stay in our hometown."
Besides Tampa, Ujiri mentioned last week Buffalo, N.Y.; Fort Lauderdale, Kansas City, Mo.; Louisville, Ky.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Newark, N.J., as possible relocation spots.
Earlier this year, the Toronto Blue Jays, Canada's only Major League Baseball team, were forced to relocate their home games to Buffalo after failing to get a travel exemption.
It's unclear whether fans will be allowed into Raptors games played at Amalie Arena, but the NBA sent a memo to teams earlier this month with guidelines for admitting fans provided they meet state and local regulations.
The Raptors aren't recent strangers to Florida.
The NBA returned from its pandemic pause by resuming play in a locked-down bubble at ESPN's Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World outside Orlando but will start this season playing in home arenas.
Before going to the bubble, the Raptors trained at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, where Toronto head coach Nick Nurse has an offseason home.
