No March Madness: NCAA calls off basketball tournaments, other sports championships
The decision comes one day after the Indianapolis-based NCAA said it would not allow fans to attend games in hopes of stopping the potential spread of the virus.
The decision comes one day after the Indianapolis-based NCAA said it would not allow fans to attend games in hopes of stopping the potential spread of the virus.
The league also suspended the rest of its spring training schedule, after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis strongly recommended to local authorities and organizers that they limit all mass gatherings.
The United Soccer League said it was “temporarily suspending” its season over COVID-19 concerns, following the lead of the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League and Major League Soccer. The Eleven will miss at least five games.
The Indiana High School Athletic Association on Thursday afternoon announced that the remaining games in its boys basketball state tournament will continue, but with limited spectators in attendance as it copes with the growing virus outbreak.
The Indianapolis-based NCAA is weighing potential health risks to athletes against hundreds of millions of dollars on which the institution and dozens of athletic conferences and universities rely on for economic stability.
The tournament started Wednesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Fans were present for Wednesday’s games, but the conference that evening barred fans for the remaining days.
Combined, the events were expected to draw in upwards of $35 million in revenue for local businesses, including hotels and restaurants.
University of Nebraska Basketball Coach Fred Hoiberg was taken to a hospital for evaluation after he left Wednesday night’s 89-64 loss to Indiana University in the Big Ten Conference Tournament.
The decision came less than two hours after the NCAA said it would play its March Madness games in empty stadiums and shortly after the first Big Ten game tipped off at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
NCAA President Mark Emmert announced the games will be open only to “essential staff and limited family attendance.”
Gregory Skelton, owner of Skelton Equine Sports Medicine LLC, was charged in a conspiracy that involved creating and giving performance-enhancing drugs to racehorses, leading to the death of at least one high-profile horse.
The Indianapolis-based NCAA faced mounting pressure over how it will conduct its marquee event Tuesday, the same day the Ivy League canceled its conference basketball tournaments and two other Division I conferences announced that their tournaments would be played without spectators.
An advocacy group for college athletes has urged the Indianapolis-based NCAA to consider holding its winter sports championships with no fans, and the idea has not been dismissed out of hand.
The Indianapolis-based National Collegiate Athletic Association is examining all options for its upcoming men’s basketball tournament, including the possibility of holding games without fans, as the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States.
Officials from the National Basketball Association, National Hockey League and Major League Baseball say they are all consulting with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other organizations on a regular basis about COVID-19.
The $1 million initiative was announced in October as a legacy project tied to next year’s All-Star festivities, with each group receiving up to $50,000 in funding for youth-serving projects.
With a late-night vote, on the slim majority approval of the 32 team representatives, the NFL Players Association was preparing Wednesday to send the collective bargaining agreement proposal to the full union membership for potential ratification.
Fernando Alonso will again attempt to complete motorsports’ Triple Crown with a return to the Indianapolis 500 in May with McLaren and a sponsorship from Ruoff Mortgage.
Fewer assistant coaches will watch those prospects run through drills in person this year, and downtown Indianapolis bars and restaurants should be quieter as many of the on-field drills move from morning and afternoon into prime time.
IBJ’s Mickey Shuey headed to Chicago for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game to see how the Windy City hosted what has become one of sports’ biggest weekends—and tells podcast host Mason King what he and the host committee from Indianapolis learned.