Arizona Athletics is on hold during the COVID-19 crisis. At this point, I’m sure Wildcats fans are curious if they will get to go to any game in 2020, let’s dive into what we know.
It’s been a few weeks since the COVID-19 crisis, and at this point, the huge question for Wildcats fans seems to be if and when things will get back to normal for Arizona Athletics?
Arizona Wildcats Football
If we look at the NBA, Commissioner Adam Silver was the first in the sports industry, it seemed, to put the 2020 season on hold, after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19.
The NBA came to a screeching halt mid-game between the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder after the positive testing of Gobert! Come to find, Gobert had passed to the virus to fellow teammate, Donovan Mitchell and they all had passed it to opposing teams. Silver made the right call.
At the same time, the PAC-12 Basketball Tournament was under way and the Arizona Basketball team had just beat the Washington Huskies in the first round. I was on a plane with at least a dozen Wildcats fans who just boarded in Los Angeles, after I heard that morning that only Media with credentials were going to be allowed in.
Well, I was sad for the fans on board as they were not going to be able to witness what I thought would be an unprecedented chance to hear everything that goes on between players, players, coaches and referee’s.
Can you imagine being able to hear Miller yelling at referees? Finding out who talks on offense and defense? Wow! I couldn’t wait. My adult children, both Wildcats, thought I was crazy for even boarding a plane.
Well, as the doors closed, someone yelled out, “The Pac-12 Tournament has been cancelled!” Yep. It was too late to get off the plane. So I made the most of it and mostly stayed in my hotel room. I made it home right before the California Governor declared a state of emergency. What would I do without my sports??? I know most Wildcats fans were as disappointed as I was.
So that was March 15, 2020. Since then the NCAA cancelled their tournament and the college football season is potentially in jeopardy as well. The students are going to school online to finish the semester and there is no probably date for the campus to reopen.
Here we are on April 15, 2020, and sports are still closed down, with PGA Tournaments and NASCAR races on an indefinite hold.
We were however hopeful when we saw this Tweet from Mark Stein:
Dr. Anthony Fauci speaks optimistically to @PeterHamby about the “bubble” concept for Major League Baseball ... and thus, by extension, the NBA (📸: @RealGM) pic.twitter.com/TfzbJDJ1lc
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) April 15, 2020
Okay! Great! We could see a light at the end of the tunnel, right? I mean if they test everyone and play without fans, and control contact, maybe we could see the NCAA and Arizona Athletics follow suit?
Arizona’s Athletic Director Dave Heeke wrote an email to Wildcats fans on Wednesday addressing some of those things and then some! He basically told fans that Arizona will be losing money, “Revenue loss of over $7.5 million in this fiscal year alone ,” that spring sports scholarships will be supported for an additional year for those student-athletes that wish to return next year ($600K) and that he would appreciate fan support in buying tickets.
"As Arizona’s Director of Athletics, I am working side by side with the leadership of the University of Arizona, the Pac-12 Conference and the NCAA to ensure our department is in alignment on key decisions regarding health and safety, education, legislation, finances and the future of college athletics.In order to provide maximum payment flexibility for our fans, we extended the Wildcat Club and season ticket renewal deadline to June 1."
On Tax Day, CBS Sports reported that Vice President Mike Pence met with the College Football Playoff Management Committee including commissioners from the Power Five (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC). The message from the committee was that there would be no college sports until students returned to campus. CBS noted that “Pro athletes can collectively bargain their working conditions in their return to play. College athletes cannot.”
Earlier this month, President Trump met with Pro Sports Commissioners from the NBA, NHL, NFL and Major League Baseball, about the effects on their industry due to the coronavirus pandemic because he wants to bring back sports “As soon as we can.” California Governor Gavin Newsom is not expecting the NFL to host games in his state on September 10, the supposed start of the season. The NFL Draft will be held virtually in two weeks. Adam Silver said he is waiting for “Clearance from public health officials.”
With college football players and basketball players at home with their parents, there has been a slew of news which includes the senior safety of the Arizona’s football team, Scottie Young, and Jalen Green announcing he has a $500K job with the NBA G-League and will be skipping college all together. It’s a strange strange world right now..let’s hope we can get our Wildcats tushes back in seats as soon as it is safe.