By Dennis Young, NY Daily News
The NCAA has canceled the men’s and women’s Division I basketball tournaments because of the coronavirus pandemic. The tournaments will not be delayed or played at a later date.
The news came after a chaotic two days, when Rudy Gobert’s positive test started a series of cancellations in American sports. With the cancellation of the tournaments — scheduled to start next week — all major American sports are on hold.
The NCAA also canceled all winter and spring championships, tons of sports across both genders and all three divisions. Several winter championships were scheduled to take place without fans this weekend.
Sports arenas and courts empty worldwide as coronavirus precautions are taken
Several conferences had canceled winter and spring sports, while others planned on participating. The Big East even played half of a basketball game Thursday. The NCAA had announced Wednesday that the tournament would be played without fans, perhaps in smaller venues.
Like with all of the cancelations, there were few logistical answers available immediately. Most of the NCAA’s non-revenue sports depend on the revenue from the Division I men’s basketball tournament television contract in order to hold championships. It’s unclear if the NCAA will still receive that revenue, roughly a billion dollars, from CBS and Turner, or what would happen if it didn’t.
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