Age of Coronavirus: NBA Suspends Regular Season, NCAA Bans Fans From National March Madness Tournament, Pac-12 Hoops Tourney In Las Vegas Will Not Allow Fans Starting Thursday, NHL Monitoring COVID-19 Crisis
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
The breathtaking news about the COVID-19 virus unfolded quickly Wednesday afternoon.
The NBA suspended its season after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert reportedly tested positive for coronavirus.
The NCAA will move forward with its national college basketball tournament, but will not allow fans to attend the games. Only staff and family members will attend. Here is the announcement:
In Las Vegas, the Pac-12 conference decided to not allow fans to attend its men’s tournament starting Thursday. Here’s the statement:
While we understand the disruption this will cause to our many fans, we have made this decision in an effort to do our part in helping to limit the spread of the virus and in the interest of the health and safety of our student-athletes, campus communities, working and volunteer event personnel and all those who attend Pac-12 events.
We will continue to analyze and implement updated recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local health authorities, and take any additional steps necessary to protect the health of participants and attendees.
And the National Hockey League said it is aware of the NBA suspending its season and will monitor the virus crisis and issue more of an update Thursday.
And here’s the NHLPA with a statement:
Las Vegas-based UFC President Dana White told LVSportsBiz.com Wednesday that UFC 249, set for April 18 in Brooklyn, is still a go.
The NFL today has not said anything about the NFL Draft event in Las Vegas in April. It would be interesting to see if the NFL moves ahead with the draft but without fans given the advice of health experts to stay away from big crowds to avoid getting infected by the worldwide virus.
The World Health Organization called the disease caused by the novel coronavirus — COVID-19 — a pandemic. That means it’s a worldwide spread of a new disease and most people do not have immunity from it.
In the U.S., more than 1,000 people are infected with the coronavirus. As testing increases, that number will likely increase.
Sports crowds provide potential setting for one person to spread the coronavirus to another. It’s why big gatherings are being identified as places to stay away from. Health experts recommend washing hands frequently, especially fingernails and the thumb area. The virus can live for as long as a week on clothes and surfaces.
Even actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita, in Australia, said in a Tweet tested positive for the virus. which originated in Wuhan, China in December.
Earlier Thursday
The Vegas Golden Knights PR staff rolled out players Nate Schmidt, Jonathan Marchessault, Marc-Andre Fleury and Reilly Smith to take turns and speak with the media for stories Wednesday. They stood at a podium and it was the first day of the new NHL policy of banning media from locker rooms amid the coronavirus health crisis.
With the Golden State Warriors set to play the Brooklyn Nets at the Warriors’ home arena, the Chase Center in San Francisco, in front of no fans, I asked Fleury what would it be like to play a playoff game in front of no fans at T-Mobile Arena, considered one of the NHL’s loudest venues.
“It would suck,’ Fleury told about 20 media people in the VGK press conference room at City National Arena in Downtown Summerlin.
The slew of sports events without fans also means lost wages for thousands of concessions workers and ushers who have created a sub-strata to the economy in an event town like Las Vegas.
“The scariest part will be the trickle down economic impact,” Cassandra Cousineau of LVSportsBiz.com said.
Smith declined to answer “what if” questions about the COVID-19 infectious disease. The virus can live on clothes an surfaces for up to a week and health experts advise to wash hands frequently, paying special attention to thumb and fingernails.
Some sports events have been cancelled like the Ivy League college basketball tournament.
The Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament went ahead at T-Mobile Arena as planned Wednesday, though hand sanitizer stations and “please wash hand” signs are around the venue owned by MGM Resorts and Los Angeles-based AEG.
The first game matched Utah vs Oregon State with Oregon State winning the game on a last-second shot to come back and take the game, 71-69. Here’s the game-winner.
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