Naismith Hall shifts 2020 enshrinement ceremonies to May 2021
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame rescheduled the 2020 Enshrinement Ceremony festivities to May 13-15, 2021 due to the continuing impact of the COVID-19 virus.
The organization had been hoping to find a viable date in October for a star-studded class headlined by the late Kobe Bryant, along with Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett, as well as former Bentley women’s coach Barbara Stevens if the pandemic showed signs of subsiding.
The impact of the delay has significant financial ramifications and has resulted in the elimination of several full-time positions and compensation cuts in the 25-40 percent range for the most senior management as the Hall faces the prospect of declining revenues while the pandemic persists.
“These are people who have been a big part of the Hall’s success in recent years; it hurts deeply,” said John Doleva, President and CEO of the Hall of Fame. “The decision to reschedule Enshrinement into May of next year, along with diminished museum guest visitation and a very uncertain future regarding our multiple collegiate and high school basketball events this fall, has forced us to make these very difficult decisions. Our goal now is to conserve resources so that we may stabilize in 2021 and return to our growth trajectory in 2022 and beyond.”
“For this single event, and only because of the pandemic, we will relocate the entire event one time to Mohegan Sun which has been a long-time marketing partner of the Hall. Mohegan Sun has shown they can effectively operate a ‘near-bubble’ for our event which provides a more secure environment for our guests,” Doleva explained. “In making this announcement today, our goal is to provide this date and location change with ample notice for our network broadcast partners, nationally and internationally traveling guests and the many basketball constituents the Hall serves.
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