Big Ten Changes Course, Will Ban Fans for Rest of Tournament

The final four days of the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis will be played in a nearly empty Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The Big Ten Conference announced Wednesday night that beginning on Thursday attendance at all Big Ten men’s basketball tournament games will be limited to student-athletes, coaches, event staff, essential team and Conference staff, TV network partners, credentialed media, and immediate family members of the participating teams.

The decision impacts fans of all eight teams who are playing on Thursday, where many of their fans had already traveled to Indianapolis. Purdue plays Thursday night, as does Indiana if it beats Nebraska on Wednesday night.

Additionally, all further Big Ten Conference winter and spring sport competitions, including championship/tournament events, will also be limited to student-athletes, coaches, event staff, essential team and Conference staff, TV network partners, credentialed media, and immediate family members of the participating teams.

The main priority of the Big Ten Conference is to ensure the safety of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fans and media as we continue to monitor all relevant information on the COVID-19 virus on a daily basis.

It is important that any person attending a Big Ten sporting event consult the following guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/high-risk-complications.html.

The Big Ten's announcement came just hours after the NCAA announced that it will follow the lead of other sporting events and restrict fan access to its signature event, the men’s basketball tournament, due to the coronavirus outbreak. All other winter sports championships, including the women’s basketball tournament, will be under the same restriction.

The news comes just five days before Selection Sunday, when the 68-team bracket is revealed. The near-last-minute disruption presents an extraordinary logistical challenge to the NCAA and its broadcast partners, CBS and Turner Sports, and stands as the most significant disruption in the 81-year history of an event that has become a staple of American sporting culture. But the ongoing national health crisis left the NCAA with little option.