TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa could become the temporary home of the NBA's Toronto Raptors if the team can't play in Canada due to the country's existing coronavirus travel restrictions.
The city has been in preliminary discussions about hosting the Raptors — with games being played at Amalie Arena — since late October. The NBA season is slated to begin on Dec. 22, with training camps set to open on Dec. 1.
"Ideally, the Raptors are able to play their upcoming season in Toronto, but should that not be possible, we would have a strong interest in working to successfully meet and exceed their expectations as an alternative host," said Rob Higgins, the executive director of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission. "We've enjoyed our preliminary conversations with their organization and stand ready to assist if needed."
Currently, non-essential workers returning to Canada from the U.S. must self-quarantine for 14 days, which makes playing scheduled NBA games in Toronto — the Raptors are the league's only Canadian team — extremely difficult.
The team is working with the Canadian government to be granted an exemption, all while coronavirus cases are spiking on both sides of the border. The Raptors might have to follow in the footsteps of Major League Baseball's Toronto Blue Jays, who played their home games across the Canadian border in Buffalo, N.Y.
"We're exploring options for our Plan B," Raptors director of communications Jennifer Quinn said in an email. "But our main focus is on playing next season in Toronto."
Tampa has emerged as one of the most favorable alternatives, though the city is still awaiting word from the NHL on the format of its season, which could start as early as Jan. 1.
Tampa also is a strong candidate to become an NHL hub city. If it's chosen for that, Amalie Arena would not be able to host the six to eight NHL teams and an NBA team, as well.
Discussions with the NHL about being a hub predate talks with the Raptors, so if Tampa is chosen as a hub city, it would take priority over the Raptors coming to Tampa.
As of now, there's still no certainty about whether Tampa would be a hub or if Amalie Arena will host Lightning home games this season. An NHL Board of Governors call scheduled for Wednesday could offer more clarity.
Alternatively, if the NHL went to a schedule that allowed teams to play home games in their own arenas, Amalie Arena could host both the Lightning and Raptors, as many two-sport arenas do across the country. The city would also retain a local training facility for the Raptors to hold practices.
Meanwhile, the Raptors need to find a resolution rather quickly and still hope to be able to play in Toronto. Other cities that have been mentioned as possible hosts are Buffalo, N.Y., Kansas City, Mo., Louisville, Ky., Nashville, Tenn., and Newark, N.J. Buffalo also is a strong NHL hub candidate.
In an interview with the CBC Thursday, Raptors president Masai Ujiri said the team ultimately would prefer to play in Canada.
"We have many options, to be honest," Ujiri said on CBC's "The Current with Matt Galloway." "I think we're lucky that the Raptors have become a darling, I think, hopefully, globally. We're proud of that.
" ... Everybody wants us to come play. We are honored, we are humbled and we are appreciative that everybody wants us to come play in their city, but honestly, our main goal is to stay home. We really want to stay home."
Like the NHL, the NBA resumed play this summer in a bubble, playing games at ESPN's Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World. The experiment was a success, as there were no positive coronavirus tests in the bubble. Still, the NBA and its teams lost tremendous amounts of revenue, and the league is moving to return games to home arenas this year.
Last week, the NBA and its players association announced a 72-game schedule that would begin on Dec. 22. The league deferred an announcement on whether fans would be able to attend games until a later date, but the Raptors have discussed the possibility of having fans at games if they were to play in Tampa.
The Raptors have been one of the NBA's most successful teams, winning an NBA title in 2018-19. They've been to the playoffs seven straight seasons and have advanced to at least the Eastern Conference semifinals in each of the past five years.
