Mizzou fans celebrate during a Southeastern Conference tournament game against Georgia on March 8, 2018 at Scottrade (now Enterprise) Center in St. Louis. NCAA Tournament first- and second-round games are scheduled for Enterprise Center on March 19 and 21, but only essential staff and limited family will be in attendance. (Post-Dispatch photo by Laurie Skrivan)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In the sports world’s latest and most impactful reaction to the coronavirus, college basketball teams will play in mostly empty arenas when the NCAA Tournament tips off next week in St. Louis and other host cities around the country.
NCAA president Mark Emmert announced Wednesday that only essential staff and limited family will be able to attend the men’s and women’s national tournaments.
That means the general public will be prohibited from attending the first- and second-round games of the men’s tournament at Enterprise Center next Thursday and Saturday.
“The NCAA continues to assess the impact of COVID-19 in consultation with public health officials and our COVID-19 advisory panel,” Emmert said. “Based on their advice and my discussions with the NCAA Board of Governors, I have made the decision to conduct our upcoming championship events, including the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, with only essential staff and limited family attendance. While I understand how disappointing this is for all fans of our sports, my decision is based on the current understanding of how COVID-19 is progressing in the United States. This decision is in the best interest of public health, including that of coaches, administrators, fans and, most importantly, our student-athletes.
“We recognize the opportunity to compete in an NCAA national championship is an experience of a lifetime for the students and their families. Today, we will move forward and conduct championships consistent with the current information and will continue to monitor and make adjustments as needed.”
The men’s tournament is the crown jewel of the NCAA revenue streams, worth more than $1 billion per year through its TV deal with CBS/Turner. The games will still be televised, but with empty seats in the backdrop.
In addition to St. Louis, first- and second-round games of the men’s tournament will take place in Albany, N.Y., Spokane, Wash., Tampa, Fla., Cleveland, Greensboro, N.C., Omaha, Neb., and Sacramento, Calif. The regional semifinals and finals will be in Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Houston and New York with the Final Four set for April 4-6 in Atlanta.
Emmert’s statement left many questions unanswered, but as of Wednesday, host site organizers couldn’t provide further details beyond the NCAA’s statement. St. Louis Sports Commission president Frank Viverito and Missouri Valley Conference associate commissioner Jack Watkins referred all questions to NCAA director of media coordination David Worlock, who declined comment via email.
“The health and safety of all involved are of the utmost concern,” Viverito said by phone Wednesday. “For now we’re waiting for more information from the NCAA.”
The NCAA announced that all tickets purchased for championship events will be refunded within 30 days. The NCAA’s decision also means attendance will be severely limited for upcoming national championship events for other sports, including gymnastics, swimming and indoor track and field.
As news broke of the NCAA’s decision Wednesday, Southeastern Conference men’s basketball teams were practicing at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena for this week’s tournament. Wednesday’s games went on as scheduled with fans allowed to attend the night’s two games, but the league decided to ban fans from the rest of the tournament starting Thursday, including Missouri’s 6 p.m. tip-off against Texas A&M. Earlier in the night the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 announced plans to prohibit fans from attending their tournaments for the rest of the week.
In Nashville, South Carolina coach Frank Martin met with reporters shortly after the NCAA announced its decision to ban fans from championship events.
“There are people in leadership roles that are not making decisions based on social media popularity,” he said. “They’re not making decisions on gossip. They’re not making decisions on the 24-hour news cycle. They’re making decisions because they’re getting information from people that are right in the middle of what’s going on. At the end of the day, the safety, the welfare of players, our coaches, our administrators, our fans, that’s number one. Sometimes we get inconvenienced from what we want to do because decisions are made for what’s right.”
As tournaments were starting to adjust schedules earlier this week, Missouri’s Cuonzo Martin had no reservations about any abrupt changes.
“This is life stuff. This sport is secondary when you’re talking life stuff,” he said. “If they put (the postseason) to the side, put it to the side. It’s just a game. There’s life and there’s sport. It’s real simple. If they shut it down, shut it down.”
Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams had been leaning on his wife, Corey, for updates on the situation. He was still processing the looming changes when he talked to reporters.
“I don’t know what the appropriate answer is,” he said. “I don’t want anybody to get sick. I don’t want anybody to die. Does that mean that what’s going on should mean no fans? Like I just asked (my wife), ‘Well, if we’re playing and no fans are here does that mean we don’t care if we die because can’t we get it amongst one another?’ Or is that the wrong thing to say?”
Earlier in the week, the Big West Conference and Mid-American Conference were the first leagues to announce plans to stage their conference tournaments without spectators. The Ivy League went a step further and canceled its men’s and women’s tournaments set for Lavietes Pavilion in Cambridge, Mass.
2020-03-12 12:11:10Z
https://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/mizzou/coronavirus-compels-ncaa-to-close-doors-to-fans-for-national/article_d8d79c15-11f8-5b75-a495-3da20bc15f4c.html
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