The NCAA canceled women’s and men’s basketball tournaments known as “March Madness” on Thursday because of the spread of the coronavirus.
What We Know:
- The college basketball season came to a sudden halt Thursday afternoon as the NCAA believed it’s athletes would be at risk.
- “This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities,” the NCAA said in a statement.
- The NCAA also scrapped its remaining winter and spring championships, in addition to the men’s and women’s Division I basketball tournaments.
- U.S. colleges and universities have cancelled in-person classes, limited nonessential travel, discouraged large gatherings, and even postponed or cancelled competitions in other sports.
- Hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the NCAA are at stake, plus uncertain economic implications for cities that expected to host college basketball’s biggest event.
- The NCAA had previously announced on Wednesday that they would continue playing without thousands of fans in attendance.
This announcement comes after the NBA, MLS, MLB, and PGA also suspended their play.
