Officials Evaluating Use Of Fewer Arenas For NCAA Tourney Due To Coronavirus

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – NCAA officials discussed and continue to look at the possibility of using fewer venues for the upcoming college basketball tournaments amid the coronavirus outbreak, according to the New York Times.

Multiple options for the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are currently being looked at. One option NCAA executives are weighing is narrowing the number of venues for tourney games. Another option they are considering is “holding games without spectators and proceeding normally but with enhanced efforts to promote public health, such as hand sanitizer stations.”

“We’re playing out every possible scenario, ranging from ‘OK, we’re full-go’ to modified-go to ‘Are we playing a game and we’re certain that everyone in the arena is clean and there won’t be any public?'” Brian Hainline, the NCAA’s chief medical officer, said on March 7.

“At this time, we are definitively planning on running the tournament at all 14 sites with fans, from the First Four in Dayton through the Final Four in Atlanta.”

Sr. Vice President of NCAA Basketball Dan Gavitt discusses the NCAA’s plans in regards to the coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/17h6j9QvGM

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 8, 2020

Hainline added that it’s “hard to imagine” the tournaments being canceled with a couple of weeks until the first game tips off. He also told the Wall Street Journal that playing games without fans in attendance would be “very unlikely.”

Currently, the men’s tournament is scheduled to have games in 14 cities across the United States. The women’s tournament takes place in 8 cities.

Hainline said limited the tournament venues would be “a difficult option to carry out.”

No fans allowed inside Goldfarb Gym at Johns Hopkins where the NCAA DIII basketball tournament is being held because of coronavirus concerns. pic.twitter.com/BOlORCVn2A

— Stetson Miller (@stetsonmreports) March 7, 2020

With the number of cases of coronavirus disease or COVID-19 rising in recent weeks, the NCAA will almost certainly face pressure to make adjustments to the tournaments.

Sporting events throughout the globe, including a basketball game in Utah, have already been affected by coronavirus.

The men’s tournament is scheduled to begin in Dayton, Ohio on March 17. The women’s tournament will start a few days later on March 20.

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