The National Collegiate Athletics Association has made the unprecedented move to cancel the upcoming NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, which has become known as March Madness due to the spread of coronavirus in the U.S.
The move came one day after the NCAA first announced it would ban fans from the 2020 tourney. But the organization decided to call off the entire event after the NBA said it would suspend its season when one of its players contracted the virus. The major college conferences also canceled their basketball tournaments that were playing this week which forced the NCAA’s hand.
The closure is a devastating economic blow to cities that have been selected to host the tournament including Albany, NY, which was to host first round action next Thursday and Saturday at the Times Union Center. Albany spent nearly $20 million to remodel its arena to attract big events like the NCAA men’s tourney. The games had been completely sold out but now will be played without fans and tickets will be refunded.
This year’s Final Four was supposed to be played in Atlanta on April 4 and 6 at the Mercedes-Benz arena.
In addition to canceling the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, NCAA President Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors have canceled all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships.
This decision was based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, the 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 colleges.
