The Coronavirus and College Basketball's Postseason

[J.Jennings]

Folks, please don't turn this into a political discussion.

debunked

[JFCats22]

If I had to bet I'd say this is where we're heading. The TV revenue more than offsets what the venues would lose without fans.

Strange, STRANGE things could possibly happen if they played these games in front of nobody. The game of basketball is probably the most dependent sport on crowd intensity, noise, excitement, etc.

I doubt it. I read an article (trying to find it now, it was WSJ or NY Times I think) that was discussing this. They said they believed the NCAA would cancel the entire thing before playing it in front of no fans. Their insurance polices (which would apply if they had to cancel) would more than cover all losses they would incur and owe if they cancelled the entire thing. If they play it in front of no fans they would take a HUGE loss on ticket sales, merchandising, in arena ad revenue, etc...and the author believed TV viewership would drop by 15-20% after the initial curiosity of seeing what the empty arenas looked like.

Unless this thing becomes out of control I don't think they play this with no fans.

[surveyor]

If I had to bet I'd say this is where we're heading. The TV revenue more than offsets what the venues would lose without fans.

Strange, STRANGE things could possibly happen if they played these games in front of nobody. The game of basketball is probably the most dependent sport on crowd intensity, noise, excitement, etc.

Officials in the host cities will scream bloody murder at the potentially lost revenue.

[Lighthouse]

Officials in the host cities will scream bloody murder at the potentially lost revenue.

Exactly, and if they decided to do something like this, they could just play the games in High School gym's and save a bundle on Arena rent.

[Joneslab]

I doubt it. I read an article (trying to find it now, it was WSJ or NY Times I think) that was discussing this. They said they believed the NCAA would cancel the entire thing before playing it in front of no fans. Their insurance polices (which would apply if they had to cancel) would more than cover all losses they would incur and owe if they cancelled the entire thing. If they play it in front of no fans they would take a HUGE loss on ticket sales, merchandising, in arena ad revenue, etc...and the author believed TV viewership would drop by 15-20% after the initial curiosity of seeing what the empty arenas looked like.

I would imagine there would be no way to get an accurate read on TV viewership since something like this has hardly been done in the history of the sport.

That's just somebody making up numbers, IMO.

The other stuff is understandable but these TV contracts are absolutely massive compared to what the ticket sales/merch sales bring in. I would imagine the NCAA would much rather have it than not.

BUT you still have a threat to the participants who are in close proximity to each other, and the NCAA won't want to look bad on that front. So they may cancel if this continues to play out like it has.

[justford]

If fans aren’t allowed to attend, I can see it becoming a pay to view to offset loss revenue. Just my two cents.

[Joneslab]

If fans aren’t allowed to attend, I can see it becoming a pay to view to offset loss revenue. Just my two cents.

I believe those television contracts are already set pretty far in advance.

If they cancelled they probably would chalk it up as an "act of God" situation to get out of the contract. But I don't think they would change the networks or how we could view.

[KCKUKFan]

I think a March Madness without fans would be wild. Sign me up yesterday.

It would be the cherry on top of the clusterF sundae that this college basketball season has been.

[lilproUK98]

This entire thing annoys the hell out of me and frankly pisses me off. This has been needlessly blown up into a worldwide catastrophe that is causing major damage in the economy, with stock markets, within multiple industries (including mine) that will be long lasting and cause major problems.

Yes it is serious, so is the flu and a million other things that don't get hyped like this has. It's media and fear driven and it's complete BS.

I don't think I've ever agreed with a post by crazzed more lol

[Dwight Schrute]

I think a March Madness without fans would be wild. Sign me up yesterday.

It would be the cherry on top of the clusterF sandwich that this college basketball season has been.

Agreed. The closest thing I can think of is that SEC Tournament during one of the Billy Clyde years where the Georgia Dome got hit by a tornado and they had to play the rest of the tournament in some high school gym.

[KCKUKFan]

Agreed. The closest thing I can think of is that SEC Tournament during one of the Billy Clyde years where the Georgia Dome got hit by a tornado and they had to play the rest of the tournament in some high school gym.

I'll never forget. My family and I had to watch it in a basement ballroom of the Atlanta Hyatt Regency. There were a few Wildcat Faithful posters in the room, too, I later learned.

An absolutely surreal night and aftermath.

[Dwight Schrute]

I'll never forget. My family and I had to watch it in a basement ballroom of the Atlanta Hyatt Regency. There were a few Wildcat Faithful posters in the room, too, I later learned.

An absolutely surreal night and aftermath.

Even then, I think they let a few fans into the gym, right? Or was it purely off limits?

[lilproUK98]

Even then, I think they let a few fans into the gym, right? Or was it purely off limits?

Family and athletic department personnel I think

[Dwight Schrute]

Family and athletic department personnel I think

You're probably correct. I only vaguely remember it, just how surreal it was, as KC described it.

[KCKUKFan]

Even then, I think they let a few fans into the gym, right? Or was it purely off limits?

Actually, a small number of fans were allowed in, if I remember correctly.

One of my family members was actually a journalist for an Atlanta paper and he offered to get me in to the gym, but I didn't want to go without my mom and dad. Because I'm a good son like that haha.