The presidents and chancellors of the Big Ten Conference voted Tuesday to cancel the fall football season due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, with Pac-12 doing the same, which is likely to have a domino effect that will lead to other leading universities in the finale leading to the total dissolution of the 2020 school football season.
Last weekend, the Mid-American Conference was the first convention in the country to postpone all of the fall sports scheduled for this season.
The commissioners of the NCAA Power five convention held an emergency assembly Sunday to discuss the viability of gambling this fall despite the imminent presence of the coronavirus, which has killed at least 163,000 others in the United States.
Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren aired on a Tuesday afternoon confirming the postponement of all fall sports, adding football, hoping to bet in the spring of 2021.
“It has become very transparent that there is too much uncertainty about the potential medical dangers to allow our student-athletes to compete this fall,” Warren said.
Several national media outlets reported a backward Tuesday afternoon that the Pac-12 had also voted to cancel autumn sports, add football, and offer features to potentially bet in the spring.
The other 3 Power Five meetings (CCA, Big 12 and SEC) are likely to meet soon to discuss the option to play, as CCA and SEC officials had indicated in the past that they planned to continue the seasons this fall.
“No one was looking to be the first to do it,” a Power Five coach told ESPN, “and now no one will need to be the last.”
On Sunday night, some of the biggest names in school football, from the five primary conferences, broadcast a joint expressing their preference for playing this fall. The players involved were Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence, Ohio State QB Justin Fields and Alabama RB Najee Harris. Students-athletes described protocols they felt deserve to be in a position to ensure a safe environment, adding the status quo of “mandatory universal procedures and protocols of protection and physical fitness to help college athletes who oppose Covid-19.” However, the responsibility that universities could face was probably a very important thing in resolving the Big Ten to postpone the season. Outbreaks of Covid-19 have already been reported in athletes in several schools. A freshman football player from Indiana University recently contracted Covid-19, had to be rushed to the emergency room for respiratory disorders, and now suffers from a serious illness at the center.
Several prominent Republicans, including Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Marco Rubio of Florida, and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, have suggested that colleges not cancel the fall football season. President Trump has continually tweeted: “Play school football!” On Tuesday morning, Trump said the disease did not affect “other strong young people,” such as the school’s football players. “You won’t see other people die,” Trump said.
$10.3 billion: that the overall profit generated through all NCAA sports departments in 2018, according to the NCAA annual monetary report.
NCAA meetings would talk about the cancellation of the football season, athletes say they need to play (Forbes)
”You won’t see other people die’: Trump boosts school football while regulating virus-causing disorders (Forbes)
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I’m a Forbes reporter in New York and I cover sports, politics and business. Do not hesitate to contact me by email (tsbeer7 gmail.com) or Twitter.
I’m a Forbes reporter in New York and I cover sports, politics and business. Please contact me by email (tsbeer7 gmail.com) or Twitter (@TommyBeer).