The Canada-U.S. border is still closed. The Toronto Raptors have as much capital as any professional team in Canada. The impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic knows no bounds.
Like the Toronto Blue Jays, the Canadian government said no exceptions for the Toronto Raptors. The NBA team will play its home games in the upcoming season at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida instead of Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
The Raptors considered Louisville, Newark (NJ), Nashville, Buffalo, and Kansas City. Tampa offers an eastern location, warm weather, and no state income tax. Regional rivals in this season including the Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, and the Atlanta Hawks.
Toronto and Tampa are division rivals in MLB and NHL. Amalie Arena is also home to the Tampa Bay Lightning. With a lack of concerts and other indoor events, the Raptors and Lightning should have no issues sharing the arena. The NHL will likely start well after the NBA season will go, scheduled for December 22.
The arena has hosted men's and women's NCAA tournament basketball games.
The Blue Jays had considered their spring training home in Dunedin, Florida but COVID-19 numbers were considered a determent. Things aren't much better now in Florida. Canadian snowbirds who made the trip and will be in that part of Florida will have their basketball team within proximity.
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The Canadian MLS teams had a taste of home before the pandemic shut everything down. The teams had to play in Orlando for the return tournament. MLS set up a round-robin for the Canadian teams to spend some time in Canada from mid August to mid September.
The MLS teams found homes in the United States: the Montréal Impact, who lost in the playoffs last night, had played home games at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ. Toronto FC are playing at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT while the Vancouver Whitecaps were playing in Providence Park in Portland, OR.
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The NHL is rumoured to have an all-Canadian division to allow the Canadian teams to play each other. Would be nicer if the NHL had 8 Canadian teams, including the Quebec Nordiques. The concept likely is to have teams play a couple of games far from home in the same arena, such as when Montréal and Toronto went out to Vancouver in the 2020 MLS season.
Canada has a strict 14-day quarantine to come back into Canada. The Raptors will play games with 3 teams in Texas, home to more than 1 million COVID-19 cases all by itself. The smart political choice puts Canadian sports teams in a bind. The 2021 Toronto Blue Jays are almost certainly destined for Buffalo in 2021 as of now.
photo credit: Google maps
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