Spokane among sites that will host NCAA Tournament games without fans
In 2019, the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament had 688,753 fans attend 36 sessions of games around the country. This year, those numbers will take a historical and dramatic drop.
Following the recommendation of the COVID-19 advisory panel, NCAA President Mark Emmert announced in a statement Wednesday that only essential personnel and limited family members will be allowed to attend games in the 2020 NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments.
The games will go on, but no fans will be present. The games will still be televised.
“The NCAA continues to assess the impact of COVID-19 in consultation with public health officials and our COVID-19 advisory panel,” he said in a statement. “Based on their advice and my discussions with the NCAA Board of Governors, I have made the decision to conduct our upcoming championship events, including the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, with only essential staff and limited family attendance. While I understand how disappointing this is for all fans of our sports, my decision is based on the current understanding of how COVID-19 is progressing in the United States. This decision is in the best interest of public health, including that of coaches, administrators, fans and, most importantly, our student-athletes.”
The bracket for the 68-team men’s tournament will be revealed Sunday. Tournament play begins Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio. The men’s Final Four is set for April 4-6 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
In addition to Spokane, first- and second-round sites are Omaha, Neb.; St. Louis, Albany, N.Y.; Tampa; Cleveland; and Greensboro, N.C.
The regional finals in New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Indianapolis.
Spokane will play host to eight teams for first- and second-round games starting next Thursday. In its last hosting effort in 2016, Spokane’s attendance was 33,679 over three sessions of games at Spokane Arena.
This affects 35 sites between both men’s and women’s tournaments. The men’s first- and second-round sites are decided a year or two in advance, but the women’s sites for the first two rounds will not be revealed until the NCAA women’s selection show, which is Monday.
In 2019, the NCAA Tournament generated $933 million in revenue. That will almost certainly take a hit as the sports world, in general, is dealing with the new reality.
This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 3:21 PM.
