Twenty teams sounds like a rounding error until you draw the calendar. Two more fixtures a month, one fewer rest day, and a television contract that pays for both — that is the shape of the league from next season, and the coaches found out about it the same afternoon you did.
Where the games go
The league has committed to a 38-game regular season inside the same 26 weeks. The arithmetic only works if the midweek window becomes permanent, which is exactly what the broadcast deal was written to guarantee.
What the coaches asked for
Three things: a roster expansion to 15, a hard cap on back-to-backs, and a say in the tip-off times. They got the first, half of the second and none of the third.
We asked for rest. They gave us a bus.
— Head coach, speaking off the record
The money
The broadcaster pays a reported 34% more per season for 21% more games. Split twenty ways, that is a rise for every club — and a smaller one for the sixteen that were already here.
