The NCAA announced on Wednesday that attendance for the NCAA Tournament would be limited to “essential staff and limited family attendance” due to the coronavirus, and the NBA is also reportedly planning to keep fans out of arenas.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the “NBA’s Board of Governors shared a consensus on Wednesday to continue the season playing games without fans in arenas amid the coronavirus crisis, and Commissioner Adam Silver is expected to move in that direction with a decision on Thursday.”
New story filed to ESPN:
The NBA’s Board of Governors shared a consensus on Wednesday to continue the season playing games without fans in arenas amid the coronavirus crisis, and Commissioner Adam Silver is expected to move in that direction with a decision on Thursday.— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 11, 2020
Initially, there were reports of the NBA putting the season on hiatus, but most organizations reportedly wanted to just “move toward eliminating fans from arenas to continue playing games,” according to Wojnarowski. One team wanted to continue to the status quo “until a governmental/public mandate dictated change,” according to Woj: the New York Knicks.
Several teams were willing to put the games on hiatus, but the rest wanted to move toward eliminating fans from arenas to continue playing games, sources tell ESPN. One team wanted to keep status quo until a governmental/public mandate dictated change: The New York Knicks.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 12, 2020
It would still seem to be very possible that an NBA season hiatus could be in the near future, with the way things are trending. But for now, the plan appears to be to play in empty arenas. The Golden State Warriors had already announced that they were playing their next game in San Francisco without fans:
Due to escalating concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, and in consultation with the City and County of San Francisco, tomorrow night’s game vs. the Nets at Chase Center will be played without fans. Fans with tickets to this game will receive a refund in the amount paid. pic.twitter.com/DMpO71ocvg
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) March 11, 2020
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.