In 2019, "load management" became the term of the year in the NBA.
Load management, a strategy used by NBA teams that involves resting players during multiple games throughout the season in order to keep them healthy and producing at high levels in the playoffs, has become one of the most polarizing aspects of professional basketball today. Proponents argue that it helps protect players and is ultimately beneficial for teams long term. Critics say it hurts the game and is a disservice to fans who show up to see marquee players.
Whether or not you agree with benefits of increasingly resting players, a new startup wants to protect fans who pay big bucks for NBA tickets, only to see their favorite player miss the game.
Fansure, a San Francisco Bay Area startup founded in 2017, lets fans purchase insurance on their tickets and get reimbursed if their favorite player sits out.
Here's how it works if you're a Milwaukee Bucks fan interested in seeing Giannis Antetokounmpo: Say you buy a Bucks ticket on Monday for a game on Wednesday. After purchasing the ticket, you'd head to Fansure.com, select Giannis, and note how many tickets you want to insure and the cost of the ticket. Fans can opt to insure 25%, 50% or 100% of their ticket price. If Giannis sits, you get reimbursed by Fansure for the amount you selected.
Fans who choose to protect 100% of their ticket will pay on average an additional 12-15% of the full ticket price, according to Fansure executive Scott Kaplan. Fans who decide to cover just half or a quarter of their ticket value pay a smaller premium. Prices vary based on the player fans want to see, and the likelihood that player will miss a game.
The idea is to address an increasingly apparent issue in the NBA---ticket prices to see the league's top stars are increasing, but many of those top stars are playing fewer games per year. LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard, for example, has been at the forefront of the league's load management movement, having played only 60 of the 82 regular-season games last season.
Giannis, however, has been critical about the league's load management movement and has previously said: "I can't speak to what other teams or what other players do. I want to play." The Bucks superstar has never missed more than 10 games in a season.
Nevertheless, there's still a chance you could miss Giannis after buying your next Bucks ticket, like when he missed two straight games in December for back tightness or when he missed a game earlier that month for a quad injury.
"The Bucks are a really interesting case because they don’t have a ton of other star power besides Giannis," Kaplan said. "A Bucks game could be substantially worse, at least in my opinion, if Giannis doesn't play."
Fansure officially went live in October and is right now only offering its service for NBA games. The star-driven nature of the league, as well as the aforementioned load management issue, were the main reasons it decided to begin with pro basketball. But Kaplan said the startup is interested in expanding to other leagues, including European soccer, which is similarly driven by star players.
Eventually, Fansure hopes to integrate directly with ticket sites and offer a one click option to insure tickets after making a purchase.
It might sound like a big ask for fans to pony up more money for tickets that can already cost well over $100. But if you're goal is to see your favorite player, Fansure thinks fans will be willing to pay a little more for added protection.
"In the NBA, more than other leagues, the allure is really due to the star players," Kaplan said.
