Miami Heat sets ticket policy. And tidbits on league’s return to play
Have a ticket to any of the Miami Heat’s nine home games that were postponed during the final month of the season because of the coronavirus?
The team on Friday offered clarity about how season-ticket holders will be compensated for those games, which won’t be played at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The Heat will issue a credit for the nine remaining 2019-20 regular-season home games and apply it toward the 2020-21 season, beginning with the season ticket installment scheduled for June 15th. Those who prefer a refund for the remaining home games should contact their Season Ticket Membership Representative at 786-777-1400 or SeasonTicketMemberships@Heat.com.
In an email the Heat sent to season-ticket holders, Eric Woolworth, the Heat’s president of business operations, wrote: “I’ve been with the Heat for 25 years and I can confidently say that our franchise is nothing if not resilient; and nothing if not completely and totally committed to treating our Season Ticket Members the right way no matter what.”
The Heat previously announced that fans who purchased individual game tickets to those nine games could receive a refund though point of purchase. Those who purchased individual game tickets at the AmericanAirlines Arena box office are asked to email ticketoffice@Heat.com in order to receive a refund.
It’s still unclear if fans will be able to attend games next season because of the uncertainty surrounding the virus.
“The COVID-19 pandemic will be with us for the foreseeable future,” Woolworth wrote in the email sent to season-ticket holders. “But behind the scenes, our number one priority has always been protecting the health and safety of everyone who visits AmericanAirlines Arena. Moreover, I assure you the NBA continues working with top medical, scientific, legal and governmental experts to determine the safest way to move forward.”
The opponents for the Heat’s final nine home games were New York, Chicago, Oklahoma City, Denver, Phoenix, Indiana, Detroit, Boston and Toronto. Three of those teams — the Knicks, Bulls and Pistons — will not be among the 22 franchises participating in the completion of the season at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
Most of the six other games likely will be included in Miami’s eight-game pre-playoff schedule, with the season expected to resume on July 31.
The NBA is referring to those eight games as “seeding” games, not regular-season games.
They will determine the seeds for teams entering postseason.
Miami (41-24) stands fourth in the East, two games ahead of No. 5 Indiana and No. 6 Philadelphia and 2.5 games behind No. 3 Boston.
VAN GUNDY WEIGHS IN
ABC/ESPN co-lead NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy told WQAM-560’s Joe Rose Show that he believes the Heat can make a run in the playoffs.
“I love everything about the Miami Heat team,” Van Gundy said. “Erik Spoelstra to me is a Hall of Fame coach that for some reason doesn’t get the national acclaim as he should. The guy is brilliant. He maximizes his team every year. I love the players they pick. I love how hard they play, how intelligent they play.
“Because of their youth, their shooting and their persistence, they will be a mentally strong team coming into this playoff scenario. I think they absolutely are going to play well right off the bat.”
THIS AND THAT
The NBA players union approved the league’s plan to return to play Friday. Teams might play two to three preseason games and players will be tested every day, according to The Athletic, which said players who test positive will be quarantined for at least seven days. Families of players will be permitted to arrive after the first round of the playoffs - three members at a time - according to ESPN.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who will speak with print journalists next week, said on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” on Thursday that play this summer won’t be shut down if a player tests positive for COVID-19.
“We didn’t believe we would need to,” Silver said. “If we are testing every day and trace contacts the player had every day, we would not have to shut down if a single player tested positive.”
▪ Regarding the NBA’s decision to stick with traditional playoffs — including best-of-7 series for all rounds — Silver said: “This was a point made by Michael Jordan, whose team the Charlotte Hornets are not one of the 22 teams. But clearly he’s the most respected voice in the room when it comes to basketball.
“He felt that it was very important that after we establish the 16 teams, we’d not be gimmicky. Because there were a lot of proposals on the table to do unique tournaments and pool play like you see in international competition. And we took those proposals very seriously,
“But I think ultimately, and I agree with Michael, that there’s so much chaos in the world right now, and even before the racial unrest we’re experiencing now, that let’s get as close to normal as we can and as close to normal as we can is top eight in the West and top eight in the East playing four rounds of seven games. So that’s what we intend to do, and our goal is to crown a champion.”
▪ Per ESPN, the league is planning to hold the “seeding games” over a 16-day period, with each team scheduled to play one back-to-back… NBA Finals games will be played every other day.
▪ The NBA is expected to allow each team to have 35 members in its traveling party. The Heat said Friday that no decisions have been made about who will be part of the team’s traveling party beyond, obviously, the players and Erik Spoelstra and his top assistants. Heat president Pat Riley, 75, has not indicated if he will attend.
Network announcers Mike Breen and Marv Albert have said they expect broadcasters will not be on-site to call games. If that holds, the Heat’s broadcasters could call games from Fox Sports Sun’s studios in South Florida.
▪ Though the NBA announced that training camp is likely to start on Nov. 10 and the regular season on Dec. 1, that issue will need to be collectively bargained between the league and players association. And NBA Players Association president Michele Roberts told ESPN she was surprised by those dates, considering the quick turnaround time from the conclusion of this season, which could end as late as Oct. 12.
Starting the season in early December — instead of on Christmas or early January — could allow players to participate in the Tokyo Olympics next summer.
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 4:56 PM.
