MAC and Big West Will Play Conference Tournaments Behind Closed Doors Over Coronavirus Fears
By Dylan McCaffrey
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While schools, businesses and large gatherings are closing down to impede the spread of COVID-19, better known as coronavirus, athletic conferences are falling in line right as conference tournament season fully takes hold.
Following direction from Ohio government and public health officials, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland will be closed to the public during the Mid-American Conference basketball tournament going forward, per an official announcement Tuesday evening.
BREAKING: The MAC bball tournaments in will be closed to the public.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) March 10, 2020
"Only credentialed institutional personnel, student-athlete family members, credentialed media, television and radio crews, and official team party members will be permitted for attendance for the tournaments." pic.twitter.com/2Hbq6BxB1W
The tournament has already started and will continue as planned, but the stands will be empty from the second round onward. Tickets will either be refunded for credit to next year's MAC Tournament or fully refunded to buyers. But the Mid-American isn't the only conference making the decision to play its tournament behind closed doors.
The Big West's men's and women's tournaments at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California will follow suit, with their official announcement also coming in Tuesday evening.
?The Big West Conference has announced that the league's basketball tournaments will be played without spectators as a precaution for preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
— Big West Conference (@BigWestSports) March 10, 2020
? » https://t.co/I0PtYUIqTP pic.twitter.com/Wkh8esQhzg
In addition to it all, the NCAA Tournament's First Four games are likely to be closed to the public as well. The Governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, announced that all indoor sporting events in the Buckeye State should be closed to the general public.
The NCAA First Four games are due to be played in Dayton. Cleveland is also set as a Tournament host city.
Tourney games in Dayton and Cleveland... https://t.co/TkT1N1ofj4
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) March 10, 2020
As fear grows over this highly contagious virus, we are trending towards a NCAA Tournament with empty stands. It could make for an unprecedented and very strange viewing experience -- to say nothing of the playing environment -- if arenas are still closed by the time the Big Dance begins.