What happens if a whole team dies

Fortunately, all these incidents, while scary, averted disaster. Instead, the team would get preferential rights on any waivers until the end of the season. If a quarterback is among the fewer than 15 disabled or lost, the team would be able to draft up to two quarterbacks from all NFL teams that have three available on a roster.

Each team would be able to protect two, and the drafted quarterbacks would return to their original teams the following season. Because the NBA has a smaller roster than the other major sports, its plans are simplified. Some of Brazil's top clubs say they want to give players to Chapecoense on a free loan for the season.

They also say the club should not be relegated to the second division for three years as it recovers from the disaster. Closer to home for American sports fans is the Marshall football team disaster.

The college football team's chartered plane crashed into a hill, killing all 75 people on board. Among them were 37 members of the team and nine of the coaches.

It remains the deadliest sports accident in US history. American sports leagues are not naive to the possibility that a terrible tragedy could happen again. As a result, they've formed emergency plans, commonly called "disaster drafts. The plans vary from league to league. The NFL's plan has two tiers.

In a "near-disaster," where fewer than 15 players are disabled or killed, teams are given priority on waivers for the rest of the season and are able to loan a quarterback from another team. However, the other teams are able to designate two quarterbacks as un-draftable, and the affected team must return the quarterback at the end of the season. In the event of a "disaster," where 15 or more players are disabled or killed, the league can opt to cancel the team's remaining games.

In the event of a total cancelation, the team receives the first pick in the next draft and another, separate draft is initiated.

In that draft, each team can protect 32 players. The rest would become draft prospects for the impacted team. The NBA's disaster protocols are built to continue the season. If five or more players on a team "die or are dismembered," the disaster draft is initiated.

If it does, the "near disaster" plan would kick in. If not, a restocking draft would take place in the offseason and the team would get the No. National Hockey League If an accident occurs resulting in the death or disability of five or more active players, the club would be allowed to restock its roster by buying players from other teams using money from an indemnity insurance policy. Once the disabled club returns to a playing strength of one goalkeeper and 14 players NHL rosters regularly have 20 active players , the Emergency Rehabilitation Draft can be enacted to finish the re-stocking process.

Each club will be able to protect one goalkeeper and 10 position players and the disabled club will draft from the remaining pool of talent. Teams that lost a player in the first phase of the ERP are exempt from losing a player in the draft.