Pat Forde on NCAA Decision to Play March Madness Without Any Fans
Wednesday afternoon, the NCAA made the unprecedented decision to basically withdraw all fans from the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. March Madness will go on without one of the main ingredients that makes this event it so special.
Pat Forde sat down with Mark Emmert at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis on Wednesday and talked to him about that decision.
He said basically things escalated dramatically in the last 48 hours to the point where this became the only decision they could make. Emmert wanted to make sure that the athletes were able to compete, but they had to take the fans out of the equation due to fears of the escalating coronavirus.
The Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta that was to be the site of the Final Four almost certainly will be downsized, because there is not going to be a need for 70,000 seats.
Other other modifications will be made as they go along, including who gets to go in terms of essential family, essential staff, to the players and those broadcasting the tournament, and putting on the games remains to be seen.
There are other decisions that still need to be made. Mark Emmert sounded relieved that at least they had made a decision on how to proceed. March Madness will not be the same this year, but at least for now, the games will be played.
