NBA Suspends Season/NCAA Tournament to Play w/o Fans

[DeleteMyAccount 11,881]

The NBA announced it is suspending its season indefinitely following Wednesday night's games after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the coronavirus:

 

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2880463-nba-suspends-season-until-further-notice-amid-positive-coronavirus-test

 

In an extraordinary move, the NCAA announced Wednesday the men's and women's basketball tournaments will be held as scheduled at all venues next week but without fans present.

NCAA president Mark Emmert said in a statement that he made the unprecendented decision to move the events behind closed doors after consulting with public health officials, in an attempt to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has infected hundreds of people across the United States over the past week.

Attendance at the NCAA tournament events will be limited to essential staff and family members, Emmert said.

"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," Emmert said in part of the statement. "This decision is in the best interest of public health, including that of coaches, administrators, fans and, most importantly, our student-athletes."

The Associated Press reported that the the NCAA is also attempting to move the Final Four in Atlanta out of Mercedes-Benz Arena, which houses the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, and into a smaller venue. Regional games — like those scheduled to occur in 70,000-seat Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis — could, in a similar fashion, be moved to smaller venues in their same cities.

"We have to determine the availability of the sites, obviously, but it doesn’t make good sense to have a football stadium be empty," Emmert told AP.

The Division I men's basketball tournament, known colloquially as March Madness, is one of the premier events in college sports — attracting hundreds of thousands of fans and generating millions of dollars in revenue for the NCAA. The 2019 iteration of the event brought in $867.5 million in television and marketing rights alone, according to the NCAA's most-recently audited financial statement. 

Now, the 67-game men's tournament will be played in empty arenas at 14 sites throughout the country, beginning Tuesday night with the "First Four" in Dayton, Ohio.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2020/03/11/ncaa-tournament-fans-banned-due-to-coronavirus-concerns/5024027002/

 

Sidenote: wow this is probably the first ever sports related thread on GagaDaily. lol

[Twitter 14]

Unbelievable. 

Edit: Yes I’m a huge sports fan.

[Franch Toast 27,737]

These are unthinkable times. 

(And people really think LG's Vegas shows are going on next month & May...)

[Morphine Prince 109,655]

Everything is slowly falling apart

[TOSK 640]

Baseball opens in a few weeks. The impact to the worlds economy will be severe

[DeleteMyAccount 11,881]

4 minutes ago, Morphine Prince said:

Everything is slowly falling apart

I'm sure the virus will be straightened out eventually.... As long as test kits come, WFH goes into effect, the health of everyone isn't worsened, etc.

But I'm also worried about then stock market, will companies have to be bailed out in a few months, how long will this all continue??? Like there are so many implications of what is to come. 

And then there's Trump being no help while speaking to the nation...

[Sanju 1,504]

Rudy Gobert is a dumb*ss. There is a protocol in place due to the virus, to ask players to not touch any mics, and limit hand interactions. And this is what he does in his post game interview.
 

Later he was tested positive for coronavirus. 

Not saying this was the situation for the virus to have transferred, but there are clearly protocols in place for a REASON at this time, and to "mock" it and do it as a joke, is still pretty childish for a grown man.