The NCAA has announced that it has canceled, not postponed, all remaining winter and spring championships, including the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
There had been a widespread expectation, or at the very least hope, that the tournaments would be postponed indefinitely and potentially rescheduled.
The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is one of the highest-profile and most lucrative events in sports. CBS and Turner Sports pay hundreds of millions per year for the rights. The women’s basketball tournament is not as popular, but still delivers some of ESPN’s largest audiences of the spring.
The basketball tournaments are the highest-profile of the cancellations, but the NCAA’s decision will also impact college baseball and softball and non-revenue sports like wrestling and gymnastics. The women’s gymnastics national championship and some Women’s College World Series games had been set for broadcast network exposure on ABC this year.
News of the cancellation came one day after the NCAA announced plans to hold the basketball tournaments in front of essential personnel and family members only, and within hours of all-but-one active conference tournament being called off. Only the MEAC was still playing as of Thursday afternoon.
The cancellations are the result of the coronavirus COVID-19. While the virus has yet to have the impact on the United States that it has had in Italy, Iran and China, where thousands have died, a number of public events have been canceled or postponed in order to prevent such outcomes down the line.
There is modern precedent for professional sports losing postseasons, though for other reasons. The National Hockey League called off its entire 2004-05 season, including playoffs, due to an owner-imposed lockout. Major League Baseball owners canceled the 1994 postseason and World Series due to a players’ strike.
