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Bloomburg
NCAA Leaders Say ‘Everything Is on the Table’ for March Madness
By Eben Novy-Williams
March 2, 2020
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is examining all options
for the upcoming men’s basketball tournament, including the possibility
of holding games without fans, as coronavirus continues to spread
across the U.S.
“If you can think of it, it’s something that we’ve gone through an
analysis around,” NCAA Chief Operating Officer Donald Remy said in an
interview. “We’ve contingency planned for all circumstances.”
The massive tournament -- slated to start in two weeks, with games in
14 U.S. cities -- accounts for more than 80% of the NCAA’s annual
revenue. Over the weekend, an advocacy group for college athletes
suggested holding the event without an audience present, and as the
virus fears mount, some have openly wondered if March Madness games
will be held at all.
As it considers its options, the NCAA is speaking daily with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and has formed a medical
advisory group that includes former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and
NCAA Chief Medical Officer Brian Hainline. Should the worst-case
scenario occur -- and the Indianapolis-based organization suffers
severe monetary damages as a result of the virus -- Remy said the NCAA
has reserves and a business-interruption insurance policy that it
believes would partially cover losses.
As for timing, NCAA leaders spoke on a couple of conference calls
Monday about the deadline for making a firm decision on the tournament.
“We haven’t arrived at the decision date,” said Hainline, who is a
neurologist. “But while everything is fluid, we’re going to have to
make some decisions and not have it wait until the last couple of days.”
Death Toll
The virus, which originated in China, has now spread all over the
world. As of Monday, there were over 90,000 reported cases worldwide,
with more than 3,000 deaths related to the disease. In the U.S., the
virus as been found in a handful of cities, with the first American
deaths reported in Washington state. One of the sites for the
tournament’s first two rounds is Spokane, the state’s second-largest
city.
While the NCAA executives wouldn’t go into detail about the contingency
plans, sports events all over the globe have been canceled, postponed
or held without fans as a result of the virus. They include Summer
Olympics qualifiers, major European soccer games, and marathons and
half-marathons.
The NCAA’s concern goes well beyond men’s basketball. There’s a women’s
basketball tournament with a similar national footprint that happens
simultaneously, plus a number of other championships and countless
on-campus competitions scheduled in the next few months.
That said, the men’s basketball tournament is of unique importance to
the governing body, which neither owns nor operates the College
Football Playoff. The NCAA had $1.1 billion of revenue in 2018 and the
vast majority of that -- more than four-fifths -- came from media
contracts and licensing specifically related to the men’s tournament.
Remy said the NCAA has spoken with all of its media partners and the
major U.S. leagues to discuss its options.
The NCAA also redistributes almost all of that money to its members via
a variety of different funds. The biggest, called the Basketball Fund,
pays out to conferences in direct correlation to their schools’ success
in the men’s basketball tournament.
Atlanta Finals
The NCAA tournament is scheduled to tip off in Dayton, Ohio, on March 17. The Final Four, in Atlanta, is April 4-6.
The NCAA says it is aware a decision on the games might eventually be
made by someone else. Last week, Switzerland banned all public
gatherings of more than 1,000 people. The following day, France did the
same for events with more than 5,000 people.
For now, Hainline said the NCAA has received no instructions from the
CDC or the U.S. government requiring changes to be made. While the
organization won’t go against the CDC if a directive like that comes,
both Hainline and Remy said they might choose a firmer response than
the government mandates.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many of these
student-athletes,” Remy said. “As we’re thinking about these
circumstance, we’re thinking about how to preserve that
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and at the same time how to make sure
that any decision we make is grounded in medical science.”
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